LIBRARY 

j'i;iyoiJTVJ\\  N.  J. 


iSo.  Ca8(\       ^  _  , 

No.  Book,.  3^        18(;0 


The  John   >!.  Krcbs  l>onatioii. 


BRIEF     TREATISE 


CANON  AND  INTERPRETATION 


HOLY     SCRIPTURES: 


FOR  THE   SPECIAL  BENEFIT  OF 


JUNIOR  THEOLOGICAL  STUDENTS: 


BUT  INTENDED  ALSO   FOR  PRIVATE  CHRISTIANS  LN  GENERAL. 


By  ALEX.  McCLELLAND, 

PROFESaOB  OF  BIBLICAL   LITEEATUEE  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMTNART   AT  NEW 
BRUNSWICK. 


NEW   YORK: 
ROBERT  CARTER  AND  BROTHERS, 

No.    530    BROADWAY. 

18G0. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  tlie  year  1S60,  by 

ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  tlie  United  States,  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


EDWARD   O.   JENKINS, 

^printer  Sc  Stcrfotnprr, 
No.  26  Frankfort  Street. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface        ^.        ...-.--         7 
Introduction  __^-----11 

PART  I. 

GENUINENfiSS   AND  CANONICAL   AUTHORITY    OF   THE  SCRIP- 
TURES. 

CHAPTER    I, 

G-enuineness  and  Canonical  Authority  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment,   ----------39 

CHAPTER    II. 

Genuineness  and  Canonical  Authority  of  the  Old  Testament,     75 
PART  II. 

HEEMENEUTICS,    OR  THE   INTERPRETATION    OP   SCRIPTURE" 

Definitions        --»-->---  119 

AJAXIM    I. 

The  object  of  intefpretation  is  to  give  the  precise  thoughts 
which  the  sacred  writer  intended  to  express    -        »        -  121 


4  CONTENTS. 


MAXIM  n. 


The  method  of  interpreting  Scripture  must  be  the  same 
which  we  employ  in  explaining  any  other  book       -        -  127 

.  MAXIM   III. 

The  sense  of  Scrij^ture  is  (in  general)  one  ;  in  other  words, 
we  are  not  to  assign  many  meanings  to  a  passage    -        -  130 

MAXIM   IV. 

The  interpretation  of  Scripture  requires  suitable  preparation,  134 
SPECIAL   RULES. 

RTTLE   I, 

Carefully  investigate  what  is  called  the  "  Usus  Loquendi ;" 
or  the  meaning  which  custom  and  common  usage  attach 
to  expressions        ----__-_  143 

RULE   II. 

Examine  the  parallel  passages    ------  151 

RULE   III. 

The  consideration  of  the  Author's  scope  greatly  facilitates 
interpretation         -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -162 

RULE   IV. 

Examine  the  context         -        -        -        -        -        -        -168 

RULE   V. 

We  must  know  the  character,  age,  sect,  and  other  peculiari- 
ties of  the  writer  -        -        -        -        -.-        -        -  182 


CONTENTS. 

RULE   VI. 

Let  there  be  a  constant  appeal  to  the  tribunal  of  common 
sense    --------- 

RULE  vir. 


195 


Study  attentively  the  tropes  and  figures  of  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures     210 

RULE   VIII. 

Attend  to  Hebrew  and  Hebraistic  idioms   -        -        -        -  251 

RULE   IX. 

Much  of  Scripture  being  Prophetical,  we  should  acquaint 
ourselves  with  the  nature  and  laws  of  that  kind  of  com- 
position        ---__-___  263 


AUow  no  interpretation  that  will  cast  a  shade  of  doubt  over 
the  perfect  purity  of  our  Lord's  teachings,  or  those  of  his 
Apostles 298 


We  must  endeavor  to  obtain  reasonable  certainty,  that  the 
printed  text  gives  the  true  reading  of  our  book ;  and  for 
this  purpose  must  study  and  apply  the  art  of  Criticism     -  320 


PREFACE 


The  following  work  was  drawn  up  with  exclusive 
reference  to  the  wants  of  the  Junion  Class  in  the  The- 
ological Seminary  with  which  the  author  is  connected, 
and  was  intended  as  a  general  introduction  to  the  sub- 
ject of  which  it  treats.  His  design  in  publishing  it  is, 
to  spare  the  young  gentlemen  some  weary  hours  in  writ- 
ing imperfect  and  erroneous  transcripts,  while  he  thinks 
that  it  may  be  useful  to  others  in  their  situation. 

He  has  attempted  to  exhibit  the  subject  he  has  un- 
dertaken to  discuss,  in  a  form  so  popular  and  devoid 
of  technicality,  that  the  student  fresh  from  a  literary 
institution  can  comprehend  the  whole  in  a  few  sittings, 
and  make  an  immediate  use  of  it  in  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures. 

Part  I.  treats  of  their  genuineness  and  canonical  au- 
thority. That  some  preparation  of  this  kind  is  proper 
and  necessary,  before  entering  on  the  study  of  them, 
will  not  be  questioned.     Every  man,  when  he  takes  up 


8  PREFACE. 

a  volume,  should  know  with  some  degree  of  certainty 
what  it  is,  by  whom  written,  and  with  what  measure  of 
authority  it  addresses  him.  If  this  be  true  generally, 
how  especially  important  in  reference  to  a  volume 
making  such  lofty  claims  as  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments !  Our  discussion  of  the  subject  is  necessarily 
brief,  but  it  will  furnish  the  student  with  useful  general 
ideas,  on  which  he  may  at  a  future  time  build  a  more 
complete  and  extensive  edifice.  On  one  point  we  may 
be  thouglit  needlessly  diffuse,  viz.,  the  allegation  of 
testimonies.  But  it  was  desirable  to  make  a  full  and 
fair  impression  on  the  mind  ;  and  this  could  only  be 
done,  by  spreading  before  it  a  considerable  mass  of 
authorities,  in  the  very  words  of  tlie  writers.  This 
has  unavoidably  given  a  dry  and  unpopular  cast  to  the 
discussion  :  but  we  did  not  undertake  to  write  a  novel. 
Part  II.  contains  principles  and  rules  of  interpreta- 
tion. We  have  here  also  aimed  at  brevity  and  con- 
densation ;  but  have  not  forgotten  the  necessity  of 
guarding  against  obscurity,  by  appropriate  illustrations. 
Young  minds  are  not  successfully  addressed  by  dry 
apothegms  and  abstractions.  Gases  must  be  adduced, 
to  give  the  lessons  imparted,  hue  and  coloring,  and 
the  form  of  composition  should  be  that  of  continued 


PREFACE.  9 

argument,  both  to  satisfy  the  understanding  and  im- 
press the  memory.  AVhether  a  happy  selection  of  ex- 
amples has  been  made,  others  must  pronounce — not  the 
author  :  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  such  as  occurred 
at  the  time  of  writing.  Witli  regard  to  the  original- 
ity of  the  work,  lofty  pretensions  to  new  discovery  on 
so  beaten  a  topic  as  the  meaning  of  Scripture,  would 
be  extremely  silly,  and  prove  tliat  the  work  is,  in  re- 
ality, worthless.  Yet  the  intelligent  reader  will  per- 
ceive, that  I  endeavor  to  do  my  own  thinking  on  the 
different  points — asking  for  the  old  paths,  without  sur- 
rendering private  judgment,  or  anxiously  keeping  my 
wheel  in  another  man's  rut. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  there  are  scarcely  three 
pages  in  the  whole  volume  so  exclusively  addressed  to 
theological  students,  that  the  unlearned  reader  can  de- 
rive no  advantage  from  them.  It  is  hoped,  therefore, 
that  private  Christians  will  not  find  their  money 
thrown  away  in  purchasing  it.  To  them  as  well  as  to 
the  ministry,  our  blessed  Lord  addresses  the  command, 
"  Search  the  Scriptures  ;"  and  the  manner  of  their  per- 
forming the  duty,  will  be  a  solemn  item  in  the  account 
which  they  must  render. 

The  first  edition  of  this  work  was  exhausted  long 
2 


10  PREFACE. 

before  the  author  determined  on  publishing  the  second. 
But  he  found  so  much  relief  by  the  use  of  it,  from  the 
intolerable  drudgery  connected  with  imparting  orally 
to  young  men  elementary  information,  that  its  contin- 
ued use  became  almost  necessary.  The  present  edition 
is  greatly  enlarged.  But  our  worthy  publisher  assures 
us  that  he  will  not  greatly  enlarge  the  price. 


INTRODUCTION. 


We  are  about  to  exhibit,  in  brief  compass, 
evidence  of  the  canonical  authority  of  Holy 
Scripture,  and  rules  by  which  the  Christian  stu- 
dent should  be  guided  in  the  study  of  its  con- 
tents. Before  entering  on  the  discussion,  we 
are  desirous  of  saying  a  few  words  on  the  deep 
responsibility  which  those  whom  we  specially 
address  are  under,  in  relation  to  this  matter. 
Mere  rules,  however  clearly  laid  down  and  faith- 
fully written  on  the  tablets  of  memory,  will  be 
of  little  avail,  unless  accompanied  with  earnest, 
vigorous,  and  untiring  labor  in  reducing  them 
to  practice.  Allow  us,  then,  young  brethren, 
to  speak  on  this  point  with  frankness  and  Chris- 
tian affection.  As  candidates  for  the  sacred 
office,  you  have  a  duty  to  perform  to  the  word 
of  God,  which  requires  the  devotion  of  your 
best  faculties,  the  consecration  of  all  your  time, 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

and  a  fixedness  of  purpose  which  nothing  can 
relax.  If  yon  doubt  it,  look  at  the  nature  of 
that  ojjice  ! 

Perhaps  Christianity  is  in  nothing  more  strik- 
ingly distinguished  from  other  religions,  tlian  in 
the  function  and  duties  assigned  to  its  ministers. 
Tlie  priests  of  heathenism  never  dared  to  come 
out  among  the  people  as  simple  promulgers  of 
truth.  Indeed,  they  could  not  well  give  what 
was  not  in  their  possession,  and  this  they  knew. 
Not  a  philosopher  of  the  porch  or  academy 
laughed  more  heartily  than  themselves,  at  tlie 
ridiculous  impostures  they  were  daily  practising 
on  their  votaries  !  What  their  system  wanted 
in  solidity,  however,  they  made  up  in  form,  and 
if  it  could  not  speak  to  the  understanding,  it 
should  at  least  dazzle  the  senses,  and  captivate 
tlie  imagination.  Hence  those  magnificent  struc- 
tures, whose  broken  fragments  are  still  the 
world's  admiration,  in  whose  sacred  shrines  were 
encased  the  wonderful  achievements  of  statuary 
. — the  all  but  breathing  gods  of  stone,  which 
modern  virtuosos  still  worship  with  little  short 
of  heathen  idolatry.     Hence  the  expensive  sac- 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

rificial  rites  by  which  these  marble  gods  were 
propitiated,  the  pompous  festivals  and  proces- 
sions, the  magnificent  exhibitions  of  poetry, 
dance,  and  song,  which  in  their  origin  were 
purely  religious,  and  never  entirely  lost  the 
character  of  worship  rendered  to  the  Deity. 
Hence  the  famous  mysteries,  in  the  celebration 
of  which  everything  was  combined  to  awe,  to 
fascinate,  to  bind  in  the  chains  of  an  abject  su- 
perstition, the  man  who  yielded  himself  to  their 
bewitchments. 

But  far  different  is  the  spell  which  our  holy 
religion  of  light  and  love  casts  on  the  human 
faculties !  Prejudice  itself  cannot  deny,  that 
whether  its  principles  be  true  or  false,  they  be- 
long to  a  system  magnificently  intellectual.  Far, 
indeed,  are  we  from  supposing  that  its  exclusive 
aim  is  to  rectify  speculative  error :  its  astonish- 
ing power  over  the  heart,  is  a  fact  conceded  by 
alL  But  we  mean  to  say,  that  this  control  it 
exercises  through  the  previous  mastery  it  has 
obtained  over  the  understanding,  the  conscience, 
the  unsophisticated  sense  of  right  and  wrong. 
It  calls  to  deep  thoughts,  grave  discourse,  soul- 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

stirring  contemplations.  Tlie  themes  which  it 
brings  before  the  mind  are  so  magnificent,  and 
enchained  with  infinity  itself,  that  the  sublimest 
intellect  is  lost  before  it  has  entered  on  their 
investigation  ;  and  yet  so  congenial  to  reason, 
that  what  we  do  comprehend  apj^ear  almost 
self-e^ddent  propositions. 

It  tells  concerning  a  pure  Almighty  Spirit, 
who,  by  a  simple  act  of  will,  called  into  being 
the  heavens  and  the  earth.  It  imparts  the  most 
interesting  details  concerning  his  providential 
government,  informs  ns  of  our  j)rimitive  condi- 
tion, and  gives  the  most  simple  and  beautiful 
solution  of  the  great  problem  which  has  con- 
founded the  acutest  minds,  '^  Whence  come  evils 
upon  men  ?"  It  tells  us  when  and  where  the 
first  notice  was  given  of  that  plan  of  mercy,  in- 
to which  angels  are  looking  v/ith  growing  won- 
der and  delight.  It  relates  with  accuracy  the 
preparatory  measures  for  its  execution,  unfold- 
ing his  mysterious  dealings  for  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years  with  that  singular  people  whom  he 
had  selected  to  be  the  depository  of  prophecy 
and  promise,  till  the  advent  of  him  in  whom 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

all  families  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed. 
Thus  far  we  are  only  in  the  holy  place  of  the 
temple  :  and  now  the  veil  is  rent  in  twain,  which 
concealed  the  glories  of  the  inner  house,  allow- 
ing us  to  behold  the  true  ark  and  the  living 
personal  Shechinah^  "  God  manifested  in  the 
flesh ;"  who,  after  he  had  purged  our  sins,  as- 
cended on  high,  and  sat  down  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  heavenly  majesty ! 

In  exact  correspondence  with  so  thoughtful 
and  suggestive  a  religion,  is  the  work  of  its  offi- 
cial minister.  He  is  not  a  master  of  ceremonies, 
presiding  over  a  splendid  ritual  which  fills  the 
eye,  but  leaves  an  aching  void  in  the  heart.  He 
is,  by  divine  institution,  a  teacher ;  and  in  the 
simple,  naked  grandeur  of  this  character,  he 
stands  before  the  people.  A  volume  has  been 
put  into  his  hands,  of  rich  and  various  contents, 
nay,  absolutely  teeming  with  matter;  and  at 
the  peril  of  his  soul  he  must  spread  it  out  in 
its  whole  length  and  breadth  before  his  hearers. 
The  princij^le  on  which  he  must  act  is  this  sim- 
ple and  obvious  one,  and  there  is  nothing  in  his 
commission  which  he  may  deliberately  overlook. 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

He  is  not  at  liberty  here.  Some  parts  of  duty 
may  perhaps  he  omitted  without  subjecting  him 
to  the  brand  of  gross  unfaithfulness.  But  if 
he  neglect  to  expound  the  sacred  volume,  if  he 
show  no  anxiety  to  foi'm  among  his  people  hab- 
its of  carefully  reading  and  in^vardly  digesting 
it,  he  may  well  tremble  at  the  thought  of  ren- 
derino;  an  account. 

Labor,  then — labor  is  heaven's  first  law  of 
j)reparation  for  the  gospel  ministry.  We  have 
seen  that  the  Bible,  though  a  popular,  and  in 
many  respects  an  easy  book,  presents  serious 
difiiculties  to  him  who  would  become  master  of 
its  treasures.  Both  its  great  divisions  are  writ- 
ten in  languages  which  have  long  ceased  to  be 
vernacular.  The  people  who  spoke  them  were 
distinguished  by  remarkable  peculiarities  of 
o]3inion,  habits,  laws,  which  influenced  greatly 
their  modes  of  expression.  Besides,  therefore, 
possessing  a  knowledge  of  Hebrew  and  Greek, 
one  must  be  well  acquainted  with  Jewish  and 
classical  antiquities,  including  chronology,  geog- 
raphy, civil,  and  religious  history.  Yet  even 
this  is  but  preliminary.     Now  comes  the  actual 


INTRODUCTION.  l7 

tuof :  the  readins:  of  verse  after  verse,  with  the 
accurate  settling  of  every  philological  question 
that  arises,  by  aid  of  the  dictionary  and  gram- 
mar ;  the  examining  of  scope,  context,  parallelism, 
idiom,  and  tropical  diction ;  the  comparing  our 
own  results  with  those  of  some  judicious  com- 
mentator ;  and  the  careful  gathering  up  of  the 
great  truths,  whether  doctrinal  or  practical,  con- 
tained in  every  paragraph.  These  are  the 
gymnastics  by  which  the  young  Christian  ath- 
lete learns  to  endure  hardness,  and  becomes  a 
skilful  and  gallant  soldier  in  the  service  of  his 
master !  Do  you  complain  of  the  arrangement  ? 
Then  ask  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  why  he  or- 
dained it ;  why  it  was  not  enough  to  tread  the 
"  dolorous  way"  in  his  own  person,  without  im- 
posing vigils  and  self-denials  on  his  followers. 
Tell  him  plainly,  that  while  you  like  his  wages, 
you  dislike  the  labor  ;  and  wish  to  share  his 
kingdom  without  companionship  in  his  patience 
and  tribulation.  Does  your  cheek  mantle  with 
shame  at  the  suggestion  ?  Then  be  silent,  young 
man — and  to  your  work ! !     It  is  quite  honor 

2* 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

enough  for  the  disciple  to  be  as  his  Master,  and 
the  servant  as  his  Lord. 

But  some  one  asks,  in  a  tone  half  apologetical, 
whether,  after  all,  much  of  the  trouble  we  have 
spoken  of  may  not  be  spared.  Are  we  not 
blessed  with ''  king  James'  admirable  translation 
of  the  Bible,"  and  with  most  judicious  commen- 
tators, in  whom  are  reposited  as  much  criticism 
and  literary  information  as  are  necessary  to  a 
right  understanding  it  ?  Why,  as  the  fountain 
is  so  difficult  of  access,  not  content  ourselves 
with  these  delectable  pipes  at  our  very  door? 
We  confess,  that  language  like  this,  when  heard, 
(as  it  sometimes  is,)  ruffles  our  good-humor. 
God,  in  his  infinite  kindness  to  men,  has  pre- 
served for  them  an  ample  revelation  of  his  will, 
by  a  series  of  dispensations  falling  little  short 
of  miracle.  He  has  set  apart  an  order  of  men 
to  be  its  official  exj)ounders,  and  the  church  is 
generously  sustaining  the  institution  by  its  mu- 
nificent provision  for  the  gratuitous  education 
of  candidates  in  all  stages  of  their  progress,  and, 
when  they  have  entered  on  their  work,  by  re- 
lieving them  from  every  worldly  care  and  avo- 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

cation,  that  tliey  may  give  themselves  wholly  to 
it,  and  their  profiting  may  appear  to  all  men. 
Yet  the  question  is  seriously  asked,  whether  a 
practical  acquaintance  with  these  lively  oracles 
in  their  proper  dialects,  should  be  anxiously 
cultivated  by  the  Christian  minister ! ! 

We  blush  to  think  in  how  many  respects  the 
children  of  the  world  are  "wiser  than  the  children 
of  light.  The  merchant's  clerk,  if  his  interest 
point  that  way,  will  sit  down  and  master  French, 
Spanish,  and  German,  without  heaving  a  sigh. 
The  gentleman  who  intends  to  travel  a  few  years 
in  the  East,  grudges  no  pains  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  Turkish,  Arabic,  or  Lingua 
Franca.  Even  the  girl  scarcely  in  her  teens, 
wearied  of  thrumming  on  her  guitar  to  the  harsh 
strains  of  her  native  English,  determines,  and 
carries  the  purpose  through  in  a  way  that  might 
astonish  many  a  grave  student  of  the  other  sex, 
to  achieve  a  conquest  over  the  sweetly-flowing 
Italian.  But  the  professed  interpreter  of  God's 
holy  word,  the  legate  of  the  skies,  is  so  as- 
tounded at  the  thought  of  learning  effectively  a 
pair  of  languages— than  either  of  which  a  finer 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

never  vibrated  on  the  human  ear — that  he  prefers 
to  live  and  die  just  able  to  spell  the  letters  of 
his  commission ! 

With  regard  to  our  English  translation,  much 
as  we  admire  that  noble  monument  of  "  English 
pure  and  undefiled,"  which  will  last  probably 
as  long  as  the  world,  we  say  to  those  who  quote 
it  in  the  present  argument,  that  it  is  an  exceed- 
ingly imperfect  representation  of  the  original. 
The  venerable  men  who  formed  it  were  not 
profoundly  versed  in  either  Greek  or  Hebrew, 
though  their  attainments  were  eminent  for  the 
day  in  which  they  lived ;  and  accordingly,  there 
are  not  a  few  instances  in  every  page,  where  the 
sense  is  not  injured  merely,  but  entirely  lost. 
Even  where  the  signification  of  words  is  given 
properly,  the  transitive  and  connecting  particles 
which  show  the  relation  of  the  different  members 
of  a  thought,  have  secondary  meanings,  so  en- 
tirely different  from  those  of  the  corresponding 
particles  in  English,  that  a  literal  version  is  often 
nothing  better  than  a  mere  travesty  of  the  origi- 
nal.   Take  St.  Paul  for  an  example.     It  is  quite 
impossible  for  a  mere  English  reader  to  peruse 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

his  argumentative  epistles,  without  feeling 
tempted  to  suspect  that  there  may  be  a  grain 
of  truth  in  the  profane  remark  of  Dr.  Priestly, 
that  his  premises  are  not  always  sound,  nor  his 
conclusions  logical.  His  reverence  for  inspira- 
tion will  not  allow  him  to  say  so  in  express 
words.  But  if  asked  the  question,  he  will  ac- 
knowledge his  great  surprise  at  the  little  profit 
which  he  receives  from  the  decidedly  most  in- 
tellectual writer  of  the  Christian  school. 

Now  where,  in  this  doubt  and  darkness,  shall 
the  interpreter  go?  To  expositors?  But  ex- 
positors often  differ ;  and  who  shall  decide  when 
doctors  disagree?  The  value  of  this  class  of 
authors  to  the  unlearned  reader,  and  to  the 
learned  also,  if  properly  used,  we  are  far  from 
denying.  But  not  one  is  to  be  absolutely  trusted. 
"To  none  does  the  remark  of  Mr.  Locke,  that 
"every  man  has  a  secret  flaw  in  his  cranium, 
producing  some  extravagancy  in  opinion  or  ac- 
tion, which  in  that  particular  renders  him  fitter 
for  Bedlam  than  ordinary  conversation,"  apply 
with  more  force  than  to  commentators.  The 
best  has  not  only  faults,  but  frequently,  under 


22  INTRODUCTION. 

the  influence  of  sectarian  bias  or  mental  idiosyn- 
cracy,  falls  into  perfect  absurdity.  He  only  there- 
fore uses  them  with  safety,  who  can  compare 
them  together,  and  exercise  an  eclectic  judgment 
of  his  own.  Pitiable,  most  pitiable,  is  the  con- 
dition of  that  professed  teacher  of  Christianity, 
the  only  source  of  illumination  to  whose  dark- 
ened mind  is  the  contradictory  opinions  of  men 
— who  has  not  the  shadow  of  a  reason  for  his 
preference  of  one  above  another,  except  that  it 
is  more  agreeable  to  the  Shibboleth  of  his  sect ! 
Can  a  creature  thus  lame,  blind,  and  shackled, 
the  passive  recipient  of  whatever  the  adopted 
lord  of  his  understanding  and  conscience  may 
choose  to  impose  upon  him,  be  called  an  author- 
itative (we  grant  the  "authorized")  expounder 
of  divine  truth  ?  Impossible !  and  no  one  is 
more  fully  convinced  of  it  than  the  man  himself. 
He  may  not  run  to  the  house-top  and  proclaim 
it ;  for  this  would  greatly  lower  his  estimation 
with  the  people,  and  probably  something  else. 
He  may  even  join  in  the  senseless  clamor  against 
a  learned  ministry.  But  he  feels,  nevertheless, 
that  he  labors  under  a  dreadful  incompetency : 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

tliat  he  is  a  blind  leader  of  the  blind,  right  only 
by  chance^  and  without  even  enjoying  the  hap- 
piness of  knowing  it ;  that  the  noblest  part  of 
him,  his  understanding,  is  prostrate  before  a 
miserable  creature  as  blind  perhaps  as  himself 
whom  he  often  suspects,  but  always  follows, 
with  the  servility  of  a  dog,  not  daring  to  move 
a  hand-breadth  from  his  track.  In  a  word,  he 
cannot  help  despising  himself,  and  takes  refuge 
probably  from  the  shame  of  his  own  thoughts, 
in  the  entire  neglect  of  scriptural  inquiries — • 
limiting  his  ambition  to  ringing  peals  from  Sab- 
bath to  Sabbath  on  a  few  topics  of  general  ex- 
hortation ! 

These  remarks  may  be  thought  more  applica- 
ble to  those  already  in  the  sacred  office,  than 
persons  who  are  in  a  course  of  preparation. 
But  it  is  not  so.  Though  the  evil  is  developed 
in  the  ministry,  its  birth-place  and  cradle  are 
our  seminaries  of  learning.  Here  those  habits 
are  formed,  both  for  good  and  evil,  which  ]uould 
the  character  beyond  the  reach  of  change,  except 
by  the  sovereign  grace  of  God.  We  fear  that 
they  are  often  formed  badlij  ;  and  that  many  of 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

our  young  candidates  for  the  ministry  need  the 
application  of  a  little  stimulus  to  their  reason 
and  conscience. 

The  general  sincerity  of  their  purjDose  to  serve 
God  faithfully  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  we  do 
not  intend  here  to  question.  But  that  they  are 
far  from  being  awake  to  the  necessity  of  vigorous 
and  untiring  effort  in  making  biblical  prepara- 
tion for  their  work,  is  too  evident.  They  entered 
the  Theological  seminary,  perhaps,  full  of  life 
and  ardor.  But,  alas !  in  one  short  month  a 
chilling  frost  came  over  them,  nipping  the  ten- 
der buds  of  promise,  and  infusing  a  deadly  tor- 
por through  all  their  faculties.  They  became 
fatigued  —  alarmed  —  and  are  evidently  disap- 
pointed men.  They  seem  to  have  expected,  that 
after  passing  through  the  strait  gate  of  conver- 
sion, they  should  be  put  on  a  road  strewed  with 
flowers,  bordered  with  groves  of  citron — and 
couches  of  ease  at  every  turn,  inviting  the  trav- 
eller to  sweet  repose.  'Tis  hard,  they  think — 
passing  hard,  that  gentlemen  of  talent  and  piety, 
so  devoted  to  the  great  work  of  converting  sin- 
ners, that  if  the  church  permitted  it  they  would 


INTRODUCTION.  25 

gladly  mount  tlie  pulpit  at  once,  should  be 
treated  almost  as  harshly  as  a  galley-slave  at 
the  oar ;  condemned  to  disinter  a  thousand  He- 
brew roots,  analyze  a  legion  of  Hellenistic  idi- 
oms, pore  over  Latin,  Greek,  Oriental  Antiqui- 
ties ;  and  be  told  that  when  all  this  is  accom- 
plished, preparation  for  their  ^vork  may  be  con- 
sidered fairly  begun ! 

The  eifect  of  such  reflections  is  apparent.  They 
have  become  listless,  inert,  melancholy.  Study 
does  not  agree  wath  their  constitution,  produc- 
ing dyspepsia,  palpitations  of  the  heart,  "  incip- 
ient bronchitis,"  and  a  determination  of  blood 
to  the  head.  A  hundred  times  in  the  day  they 
exclaim,  What  a  weariness  is  it !  and  gladly  seek 
relief  in  dull  vacuity  of  thought,  idle  miscella- 
neous reading,  or  talking  j)retty  nothings  in  a 
lady's  parlor.  Perhaps,  to  make  time  pass  less 
heavily,  they  offer  their  preaching  services  to  a 
neighboring  prayer-meeting,  where  the  plaudits 
received  give  precious  omen  of  more  extensive 
triumphs,  and  prove  that  genius  like  theirs  may 
safely  despise  the  uncouth  adornments  of  Greek 
and  Hebrew.     Many  of  them  deem  the  irksome 


26  INTRODUCTION. 

season  of  probation  an  admirable  time  for  secur- 
ing that  best  of  earthly  blessings — a  good  wife; 
and  thus,  a  business  in  which  the  wisest  man  is 
apt  to  play  the  fool,  they  contrive  to  despatch, 
at  the  period  when  every  fiiculty,  every  affection 
of  their  being,  should  be  engrossed  by  the  one 
great  object  which  has  received  their  consecra- 
tion !  This  impatience  of  labor,  this  morbid  de- 
sire to  engage  in  an  enterprise  without  submit- 
ting to  wholesome  j)reparatory  discipline,  this 
voluptuous  effeminacy  of  character,  is  a  blight 
and  a  curse  on  all  our  seminaries  of  learnins:.* 

All  are  not  thus.  We  attest  it  with  pleasure, 
and  even  fully  believe,  tliat  could  a  census  be 
taken,  the  class  described  above  would  be  found 


*  Yet  the  evil  is  attributable  far  more  to  our  literary  institu- 
tions than  to  the  young  men  themselves.  The  truth  is,  they 
have  had  no  opportunity  of  obtaining  suitable  preparation,  or 
forming  proper  habits :  Ave  speak  at  present  of  the  study  of  lan- 
guages. They  are  sent  to  schools  w^hose  reputation  has  been 
estabUshed  by  the  magical  rapidity  with  which  they  turn  out 
finished  scholars  to  the  various  colleges  in  their  neighborhood  ; 
and  when  in  college,  they  admirably  succeed  in  losing  the  scanty 
modicum  which  they  acquired  in  school.  The  writer  has  heard 
scores  of  ingenuous  youth  confess  with  bitter  regret,  that  their 
whole  course  in  Alma  Mater  was  a  regular  business  of  forgetting 
the  little  Greek  they  had  previously  acquired. 


INTRODUCTION.  27 

in  a  decided  minority.  There  are  many,  how- 
ever, who  cherish  an  honest  wish  and  purpose 
to  do  their  duty,  yet  are  not  a  little  daunted  by 
the  prospect  before  them.  It  seems  to  stretch 
out  into  immensity!  Is  adequate  preparation, 
they  ask,  feasible  ?  Are  they  capable  of  attaining 
by  conscientious  exertion,  such  a  real  acquaint- 
ance with  the  languages  and  literature  of  Scrip- 
ture, that  on  their  entering  the  ministry  and  ;ip- 
plying  to  the  work  of  exposition,  the  painful 
thought  will  not  obtrude,  that  they  have  been 
laboring  to  no  valuable  purpose?  Assuming 
that  those  who  put  the  question  commence  their 
theological  course  possessing  that  amount  of 
learninor  which  ouo^ht  to  be  obtained  in  a  liter- 
ary  college,  we  answer,  Yes !  With  the  ordi- 
nary blessing  of  Him  whose  you  are,  and  whom 
you  serve,  it  depends  entirely  on  yourselves.  TVe 
do  not  affect  to  conceal  the  difficulties  which  are 
in  the  way.  The  elementary  exercises  of  learn- 
ing the  grammar  and  vocabulary  of  a  strange 
language,  of  impressing  on  the  memory  the  gen- 
ders, cases,  and  other  accidents  of  nouns,  of 
hunting  verbs  through  all  the  mazes  of  conjuga- 


28  INTRODUCTION. 

tion,  we  admit,  were  not  exactly  the  form  in 
whicli  Satan  presented  tlie  temptation  to  aspire 
after  knowledge  in  Paradise.  But  what  tlien  ? 
Would,  you  expect  you':!g  men  to  be  placed 
above  the  universal  law  of  heaven,  that  every- 
thing truly  valuable  is  purchased  by  strenuous 
exertion  ? 

Far  however  be  the  thought,  that  Preparation 
is  in  all  its  stages  a  painful  drudgery.  Only  let 
the  student  sit  down,  and  make  a  fair  trial ;  he 
will  be  astonished  to  find  how  soon  light  arises 
out  of  darkness,  and  the  impediments  which 
seemed  insurmountable  disappear,  until  his  path 
becomes  agreeable,  and  even  delightful.  The 
forms  of  words,  with  their  signification,  gradu- 
ally rivet  themselves  in  his  memory,  so  that  he 
can  recall  them  with  ease  and  pleasure.  His 
dictionary  enjoys  longer  intervals  of  rest ;  the 
beauties  of  thought  and  expression  begin  to 
show  themselves,  like  modest  daisies  in  spring ; 
— and  what  a  blessed  rapture  pours  its  tide 
through  his  soul,  when  he  discovers  that  he  can 
draw  the  water  of  salvation  directly  from  the 
limpid  fountain,  and  with  his  own  hand  pluck 


INTRODUCTION.  29 

tlie  healing  leaves  from  the  tree  of  life !  Then 
his  work  goes  on  pleasantly  indeed !  A  field  of 
delightful  employment  stretches  before  him— a 
garden  of  the  Lord,  lovelier  than  Eden  ever  was, 
— which  he  cultivates  without  pain,  whose  fruit 
he  gathers  without  fatigue,  while  the  God  who 
placed  him  there  walks  amid  the  foliage,  and 
converses  with  him  face  to  face. 

This  is  no  fancy  sketch.  Those  who  have 
gone  through  the  process  will  certify  to  the 
truth  of  every  word,  and  say,  that  after  a  certain 
stage  of  progress,  the  critical  reading  of  Holy 
Scripture  became  one  of  the  most  pleasant  oc- 
cupations of  their  life.  Witness  the  beautiful 
recital  of  the  learned  and  pious  Bishop  Home 
of  his  state  of  mind,  while  preparing  his  Com- 
mentary on  the  Psalms. — "  Could  the  author 
flatter  himself,"  he  says,  "  that  any  one  would 
take  half  the  pleasure  in  reading  the  following 
exposition,  which  he  has  taken  in  writing  it,  he 
would  uot  fear  the  loss  of  his  labor.  The  em- 
ploymejit  detached  him  from  the  bustle  and  hur- 
ry of  life,  the  din  of  politics,  and  noise  of  folly. 
Vanity  and  vexation  flew  away  for  a  season,  care 


30  INTRODUCTION. 

and  disquietude  came  not  near  his  dwelling.  He 
arose  fresli  as  the  morning  to  his  task,  the  silence 
of  night  invited  him  to  pursue  it,  and  he  can  truly 
say  that  food  and  rest  were  not  preferred  before 
it.  Happier  hours  than  those  which  have  been 
spent  on  these  meditations  on  the  songs  of  Zion, 
he  never  expects  to  see  in  this  world.  Very 
pleasantly  did  they  pass,  and  moved  smoothly 
and  swiftly  along ;  for  when  thus  engaged  he 
counted  no  time.  They  are  gone,  but  have  left 
a  relish  and  fragrance  on  the  mind,  and  the  re- 
membrance of  them  is  sweet."  Will  you  not 
feel  encouraged,  young  friends  and  brethren,  by 
this  experience  of  the  venerable  bishop,  to  enter 
on  your  work  like  men  ?  Away  with  despond- 
ency and  forebodings  of  defeat.  Away  with 
that  ingenuity  which,  bribed  by  indolence,  sees 
monsters  and  lions  in  the  way.  Listen  not  to 
those  evil  spies,  those  lazy,  worthless  cowards, 
who  would  tell  you  that  the  good  land  which 
flows  with  milk  and  honey,  is  beset  with  giants, 
sons  of  Anak;  that  the  Amalekites  dwell  in 
the  south,  Hittites,  Jebusites,  and  Amorites, 
in  the  mountains,  the  Canaanites  by  the  sea ; 


INTRODUCTION.  31 

and  that  you  cannot  go  against  this  people ! 
Hear  them  not,  but  say,  in  the  strength  of  the 
Lord  and  your  own  firm  purpose,  "  Let  us  go 
up  to  possess  it,  for  we  are  fully  able  to  over- 
come them."  You  will  not  be  uttering  a  vain 
boast.  Victory  is  certain,  and  when  it  comes 
you  will  be  more  than  recompensed  for  all  your 
toils. 

Pardon  us  if  we  dwell  a  moment  longer  on 
this  subject,  and  remind  you  what  the  recom- 
pense will  be.  Are  you  anxious  that  one  day 
you  may  cover  with  confusion  the  bold  infidel, 
who  defies  the  armies  of  the  living  God,  and  by 
calm,  convincing  demonstrations,  which  shall 
come  home  to  the  honest  understandings  of  men, 
show  the  groundlessness  of  his  objections  ?  This 
you  will  be  able  to  do,  by  displaying  the  truth, 
beauty,  and  moral  dignity  of  that  blessed  vol- 
ume against  which  his  violence  is  directed — in 
order  to  which,  you  miist  have  studied  it.  With- 
out study  you  mil  scarcely  be  able  to  avert  the 
baneful  influence  of  scepticism  from  your  own 
soul,  much  less  build  your  hearers  on  their  most 
holy  faith.     Do  you  wish  to  become  vivid,  in- 


32  INTRODUCTION. 

teresting,  various  preachers,  wlio  make  their 
hearers  feel  the  commanding  energy  of  truth, 
and  whom  they  never  tire  of  hearing,  as  every 
sermon  brings  forth  new  evidences  of  apostle- 
ship  ?  Study  your  Bible !  There  you  will 
find  inexhaustible  resources  of  pleasing,  im- 
pressing, profiting.  Prepare  yourselves  for  ex- 
pounding the  word  of  God  from  Sabbath  to 
Sabbath.  Prepare  yourselves  for  bringing  be- 
fore the  people  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  Christ 
and  his  Apostles,  to  unfold  its  instructive  histo- 
ries, analyze  its  charming  parables,  disentangle 
and  develop  its  sublime  reasonings.  If  such  be 
the  character  of  your  exhibitions,  we  venture 
to  promise  you  immunity  against  one  sore  evil 
under  the  sun — that  of  being  waited  on  by  a 
church  session  or  consistory,  in  the  second  year 
of  yoQr  labors,  and  affectionately  informed  that 
there  is  no  further  call  for  your  services. 

Do  you  wish  to  be  eminently  successful  in 
winning  souls  to  Christ  ?  Study  the  Book. 
This  is  the  two-edged  sword,  that  pierces  to  the 
dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  joints  and 
marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and 


INTRODUCTION.  ^  33 

intents  of  the  heart.  Machinery  has  been  in- 
vented which,  worked  by  skilful  hands,  can 
furnish  to  order  a  greater  number  of  nominal  con- 
verts, manufactured  in  a  given  period ;  but  "  the 
truth"  alone  makes  children  of  God  and  heirs 
of  immortality ! 

Have  you  regard  to  personal  comfort  and  en- 
joyment? What  an  inexhaustible  source  of 
amusement — yes,  amusement,  high  and  holy  as 
that  of  angels — will  you  possess,  when  you  have 
acquired  the  taste,  skill,  and  habit,  of  reading 
in  its  originals,  the  Holy  Word.  To  this  mount 
you  will  be  able  to  retire  at  any  moment,  like 
the  pious  Home,  from  the  cares  and  turmoils 
of  life,  and  see  more  than  the  three  disciples 
saw  on  the  hallowed  summit  of  Tabor.  When 
afflicted  and  almost  repining  at  the  ways  of 
heaven,  let  your  old  Hebrew  Bible  introduce 
you  to  the  bedside  of  venerable  Job,  w^ith  whom, 
and  his  friends,  you  may  speculate  on  the  mys- 
teries of  Providence,  until,  convicted  of  your 
folly,  you  join  with  him  in  his  humble  acknowl- 
edgment, "I  have  uttered  what  I  understood 
not — things  too  wonderful,  which  I  knew  not !" 
3 


34  INTRODUCTION. 

Are  you  suffering  under  hypochondriac  depres- 
sion ?  you  may  order  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel 
to  strike  his  lyre:  If  its  music  does  not  expel 
the  evil  spirit,  as  it  did  from  Saul,  your  case  is 
indeed  melancholy. 

But  the  study  we  recommend  will  be  far 
more  than  an  occasional  solace.  The  prepara- 
tion of  a  series  of  expository  remarks  on  an  im- 
portant portion  of  Scrij^ture,  which  he  knows 
his  people  look  for  on  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  fur- 
nishes to  a  pastor  a  delightful  regular  employ- 
ment, that  rouses  the  faculties,  gives  elasticity 
to  every  muscle,  fillips  the  blood,  and  is  more 
conducive  to  health  than  all  the  medicine  of 
the  dispensatory.  We  are  not  ignorant,  that 
mental  application  is  considered  by  many  un- 
favorable to  a  good  condition  of  the  physical 
system,  and  that  by  this  supposed  fact  they 
explain  the  meagre  and  hectic  looks  of  clergy- 
men. Nothing  is  more  al^surd.  Look  through 
the  world,  and  you  will  find  no  class  of  men 
more  vis^orous  and  lono--lived  than  active  think- 
ers.  The  truth  is,  clergymen  do  not  study  enough. 
That  they  sit  much,  and  are  more  sequestered 


INTRODUCTION.  35 

from  tlie  hum  and  tumult  of  society  than  mem- 
bers of  other  professions,  is  fully  granted.  But 
sitting  is  not  studying,  nor  are  we  willing  to 
bestow  this  respectable  name  on  the  mechanical 
o]3eration  of  transposing  a  few  stale  thoughts, 
repeated  a  thousand  times,  on  certain  common- 
places of  Didactic  Theology.  What  the  minis- 
try need,  is  an  employment  bringing  them  in 
contact  with  a  succession  of  new  as  well  as  in- 
teresting objects,  which  will  produce  an  agreea- 
ble tension  of  the  faculties,  never  weaiying,  or 
followed  by  reaction,  because  sustained  by  a 
constant  and  pleasing  variety.  Such  you  will 
find  to  be  the  regular  study  and  exposition  of 
sacred  Scripture.  It  will  do  thee  good  like  a 
medicine,  and  be  "  marrow  to  thy  bones." 

In  view  of  all  these  motives,  we  pray  you,  as 
a  friend  and  brother,  as  one  who  every  day 
looks  back  with  regret  to  his  own  misimprove- 
ment  of  youthful  privileges,  to  exert  untiring 
diligence  in  biblical  preparation  for  your  work. 
Systems  of  human  concoction  have  their  use ; 
but  they  are  of  secondary  importance.  As  such 
must  you  view  them.     You  must  ge^  close  up  to 


36  INTRODUCTION. 

the  pure  crystal  fountain,  tliat  issues  from  the 
heavenly  throne.  There  you  must  dwell; 
thence  must  you  di'aw  for  your  own  souls,  and 
the  souls  of  those  committed  to  your  charge. 
"Blessed  is  the  servant  who,  when  the  Master 
comes,  shall  be  found  so  doing." 


PART  I. 


GENUINENESS  AND  CANONICAL  AUTHORITY 
OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 


CHAPTEK  I. 

CANOlSr    OF   THE    ISTEW    TESTAMENT. 

The  divine  Author  of  our  religion,  intending 
that  it  should  be  a  perpetual  blessing  to  the 
human  race,  among  other  provisions  for  accom- 
plishing his  pm'pose,  took  care  that  it  should  be 
committed  to  writing.  Had  this  not  been  done, 
the  most  fatal  consequences  would  have  ensued. 
It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  oral  tradition  could 
preserve  so  great  a  number  of  doctrines  and 
facts  as  Christianity  is  made  up  of,  in  their  origi- 
nal integrity.  They  would  have  been  lost,  or 
dis2:uised  and  altered  ;  and  nothino-  but  an  inter- 
position  like  that  which  raised  Lazarus  from  the 
grave,  would  have  saved  our  holy  and  beautiful 
temple  from  being  utterly  desecrated,  and  per- 
haps (as  the  Catholic  experiment  has  proved) 
made  the  cage  of  every  hateful  and  unclean 
bird.  It  was  therefore  essential,  that  the  great 
objects  of  faith  should  be  recorded  on  enduring 


40  CANON    OF    THE 

tablets,  accessible  to  all  mankind.  The  scat- 
tered rays  of  truth  thus  became  collected  into  a 
focus,  and  religion  received  that  fixed  and  un- 
changeable character  which  became  a  ]-evelation 
from  God. 

To  this,  and  this  alone,  it  owes  its  continued 
existence.  It  survived  the  furious  assaults  of 
pagan  Rome,  which  crushed  the  persons  of  its 
disciples,  but  was  utterly  foiled  in  the  attempt 
to  exterminate  its  writings.  The  Volume  of  vol- 
umes continued  to  circulate.  It  entered  the 
hovel  and  the  palace,  it  stole  into  the  camp,  it 
might  be  found  stowed  away  under  the  senato- 
rial robe ;  and  history  tells  us,  that  long  before 
the  time  of  Constantine,  while  paganism  sat 
enthroned  without  even  thinking  of  a  rival,  it 
had  forced  its  way  into  the  imperial  palace.  It 
is  this,  too,  which  gives  our  religion  that  won- 
derful j^ower  of  reproduction^  by  which  it  can 
emerge  to  light  and  liberty  after  ages  of  declen- 
sion. When  the  mighty  man  of  Wirtemberg, 
with  his  friends  and  coadjutors,  undertook  to 
purify  the  cliurch  from  those  corruptions  which 
she  had  suffered  so  long,  that  the  knowledge  of 


NEW   TESTAMENT.  41 

a  better  state  had  passed  away  from  the  memory 
of  man,  all  necessary  to  be  done  was  the  eman- 
cipation of  the  written  word.  The  moment  an 
appeal  was  made  to  its  decisions,  and  men  learned 
to  compare  them  with  the  sad  realities  that  sur- 
rounded them.  Popery  received  a  wound  which, 
though  not  immediately  fatal,  doomed  it  to  a 
lingering  decay  and  certain  death,  when  the 
purposes  of  God  shall  be  completed. 

It  is  called  by  various  names, — which  we  pass 
over,  to  consider  that  which  more  immediately 
concerns  the  present  discussion. 


DEFINITION    OF   THE    WOKDS    "CANON      AND 


a 
CANONICAL.' 

The  word  "  Canon"  is  derived  from  the  Greek 
xojj/wv, — which  properly  denotes  the  beam  of  a 
balance,  and  also  a  rule  by  which  anything  is 
tried  and  determined.  At  an  early  period  it 
was  employed  to  signify  a  catalogue  of  articles 
belonging  to  the  church,— all  questions  of  prop- 
erty being  decided  by  an  appeal  to  such  cata- 
logues. Soon  it  became  yet  more  restricted  in 
its  meaning,  being  applied  almost  exclusively 
3* 


42  CANON    OF    THE 

to  a  publicly  approved  catalogue  of  the  books 
which  were  received  by  Christians  as  the  pro- 
ductions of  inspired  men.  "  They  fall  into  great 
absurdities,"  says  Chrysostom,  "who  will  not 
follow  the  Canon  of  Scripture,  but  trust  to  their 
own  reasoning."  "  Only  in  the  Canonical  writ- 
ings," says  Athanasius,  ' '  is  the  instruction  which 
blesses  imparted ;  they  only  are  the  fountains 
of  saving  knowledge." 

It  will  be  proper  to  define,  with  a  little  more 
precision,  the  ideas  attached  by  the  Christian 
Fathers  to  this  word,  and  the  kind  of  writing  to 
which  it  was  aj)plied. 

In  the  first  place,  they  required  that  a  book 
be  the  production  of  an  AjDostle,  or  Apostolic 
man.  To  Apostles  only  did  our  Lord  promise 
the  Spirit  of  revelation.  As  to  Mark  and  Luke, 
who  were  not  of  the  number, — the  former  was 
the  kinsman  and  pupil  of  Peter,  who  communi- 
cated all  the  facts  recorded  in  his  Gospel.  Luke 
was  the  friend  and  associate  of  Paul,  who  exer- 
cised over  him  an  inspection  like  that  which 
Peter  exercised  over  Mark.  They  were  therefore 
from  the  earliest  period  recognized  as  men  "  apos- 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  43 

tolical,"  and  their  works  universally  received  as 
part  of  the  Canon. 

The  second  distinction  of  a  canonical  book, 
was  its  being  publicly  read  in  the  assemblies  of 
the  faithful.  This  was  done  in  imitation  of  the 
Jews,  whose  synagogue  worship  mainly  con- 
sisted in  reciting  portions  of  their  Scriptures,  to 
which  they  gave  the  name  of  "  Paraschoth"  and 
"  Haphtaroth."  The  meanest  Christian  thus 
became  acquainted  with  the  great  truths  of  his 
relio-ion.  The  names  and  number  of  the  books 
became  as  familiar  to  all,  as  the  names  and 
num])er  of  the  members  of  their  families,  and 
the  strongest  safeguard  that  can  be  imagined 
was  provided  against  unauthentic  productions. 
Indeed  it  seemed  hardly  possible  under  such 
circumstances,  to  impose  a  spurious  composition. 

The  third  peculiarity  of  these  writings  was, 
their  bifiding  authority  as  a  rule  of  faith  and 
practice.  This  followed  from  the  first,  by  neces- 
sary consequence:  For  if  they  were  truly  the 
productions  of  men  to  whom  Christ  had  prom- 
ised the  inspiring  Spirit,  they  could  not  but  ex- 
press the  will  of  the  divine  Being,  without  any 


44  CANON    OF    THE 

mixture  of  error.  Accordingly,  they  were  uni- 
versally appealed  to  as  the  fountains  of  all  sav- 
ing truth.  "  Our  assertions  and  discourses,"  says 
Origen,  "are  unworthy  of  credit.  We  must  re- 
ceive the  Scripture  as  witnesses."  "In  all 
doubtful  cases,"  says  Cyprian,  "we  must  go  to 
the  fountain.  If  the  truth  has  in  any  way  been 
shaken,  recur  to  the  Gospels,  and  apostolic  writ- 
ings." Even  the  Arians  appealed  to  this  touch- 
stone ;  arguing  against  the  phrases  used  by  the 
Orthodox  concerning  the  Trinity,  that  they  were 
not  in  the  Scriptures:  and  one  of  them  thus 
addresses  St.  Augustine:  "If  you  say  what 
is  reasonable,  I  must  submit.  If  you  allege 
anything  from  the  divine  Scripture,  I  must 
hear  —  but  unscriptural  expressions  deserve  no 
regard." 

These  are  the  ideas  comprehended  in  the 
word  Canon,  or  Canonical  writing ;  the  first  of 
which  is  doubtless  the  ]3rimary  and  fundamen- 
tal one.  Let  the  fact  be  established,  that  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  proceeded  from 
inspired  and  apostolic  men,  and  it  is  explained 
at  once  why  they  were    publicly  read  in  the 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  45 

churches,  and  regarded  as  the  infallible  rule  of 
faith  and  practice. 

STATEMENT    OF   THE    QUESTION. 

These  preliminaries  being  settled — the  ques- 
tion fairly  presents  itself:  Rave  we  solid  grounds 
for  believing  that  our  hooks,  as  found  in  the  com- 
mon English  Testament,  were  written  and  pub- 
lished to  the  world  eighteen  himdred  years  ago 
by  the  venerated  founders  of  Christianity  to  ivhom 
they  are  ascribed  1  or,  were  they  fabricated  at  a 
later  period,  by  some  artful  impostor  ?  We  as- 
sert the  first  position,  and  deny  the  second. 
We  say  that  there  is  an  unbroken  chain  of  evi- 
dence, commencing  with  contemporary  writers, 
and  extending  to  the  present  time — writers  who 
enjoyed  every  opportunity  of  knowing  the  truth, 
and  whose  character  for  veracity  is  unimpeach- 
able, that  our  volume  is  the  work  of  nine  prim- 
itive disciples  of  Christ,  and  has  been  always 
received  as  the  complete  exponent  of  his  system, 
whose  decisions  are  final  on  every  point. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  to  the  state- 
ment, and  yet  it  may  prevent  some  confusion  of 


46  CANON    OF    THE  • 

ideas,  tliat  our  inquiry  does  not  regard  immedi- 
ately the  credibility  of  the*  document,  or  its 
divine  inspiration.  The  persons  whom  we 
address  are  assumed  to  be.  not  infidels,  but 
young  Christian  disciples  ;  who,  entering  on  the 
study  of  a  volume  which  professes  to  contain 
the  principles  of  their  faith,  are  desirous  of 
knowing  the  grounds  on  which  it  rests  its  claim 
— of  knowing,  for  instance,  where  it  came  from, 
by  whom  it  was  received,  and  at  how  early  a 
period.  Whether  Christianity  in  its  essential 
principles — viewed  as  a  power,  or  germ  of  a  new 
moral  life-:;^came  from  God,  we  suppose  to  be 
settled ;  and  now  the  question  comes  up,  which 
we  desire  to  aid  them  in  answering,  whether 
there  is  anything  in  the  2:)arentage  of  this  little 
volume,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been 
received  and  treated  in  all  ages,  which  entitles 
it  to  address  believers  in  the  system  with  com- 
manding authority  as  its  interpreter.  In  a  word, 
our  argument  goes  to  show,  that  if  they  acknowl- 
edge the  divine  mission  of  Jesus,  tliis  is  their 
book. 

The  evidence  divides  itself  into  the  testimo- 


NEW    TESTAMENT,  47 

ny  of  Christians  themselves,  or,  as  some  choose 
to  express  theoiselves,  the  "  Chm*ch  ;"  which 
must  be  supposed  to  know  with  perfect  accuracy 
what  she  received,  from  whom,  and  at  what 
period:  that  of  heretics  and  pagan  infidels;  and 
the  internal  marks  of  genuineness,  so  wonder- 
fully striking,  that  were  the  books  drawn  from 
the  bottom  of  a  river  and  exposed  to  view  for 
the  first  time,  a  cultivated  scholar  would  pro- 
nounce them,  confidently,  to  be  the  work  of  their 
alleged  authors. 

It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  discuss  the 
whole  of  so  rich  a  subject,  in  the  few  pages 
which  we  can  devote  to  it.  All  proposed,  there- 
fore, is,  to  furnish  the  reader  with  some  useful 
information  on  the  first,  and  principal  topic,  viz., 
The  early  and  continued  attestation  of  the  Chris- 
tian church.  The  omission,  however,  can  be  jus- 
tified only  by  the  necessity  referred  to ;  for  the 
testimony  of  heretics  and  infidels  is  exceedingly 
valuable.  Beside  the  concessions  of  Ebionites 
and  Gnostics  of  every  hue,  none  of  whom,  with 
all  their  fantastic  mutilations,  denied  the  genu- 
ineness of  the  wi'itings,  we  have  the  concessions 


48  CANON    OF    THE 

of  heathen  enemies,  as  bitter  as  any  that  ap- 
peared before  the  tribunal  of  Pilate — who,  while 
they  denied  the  truth  of  the  New  Testament, 
fully  acknowledged  its  Apostolic  origin.  This 
precious  confession  runs  through  all  their  dis- 
courses, and  it  is  a  confession  that  more  than 
atones  for  the  mischief  they  wrought.  It  has 
changed  their  spiteful  calumnies  and  curses  into 
positive  blessings,  so  that  our  divine  religion, 
which  commands  us  "in  everything  to  give 
thanks,"  is  enabled  to  illustrate,  in  the  most  re- 
markable way,  its  own  precept,  by  thanking 
God  for  a  Porphyry,  a  Julian,  and  a  Celsus. 
The  internal  evidence,  as  we  have  already  stated, 
is  equally  overwhelming.  No  volume  in  the 
world,  of  the  same  age,  has  half  so  much.  No 
volume  can  advance  such  proof  of  its  being  writ- 
ten at  the  time  and  place  alleged,  and  by  the 
men  whose  names  it  bears  —  from  its  peculiar 
language,  style,  and  mode  of  thinking  on  every 
subject;  the  minute  circumstantiality  of  its  nar- 
ratives ;  the  accuracy  of  its  political,  geographi- 
cal, and  historical  references;  the  air  of  truth 
and  reality  that  pervades  it ;  and  the  number- 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  49 

less  fine  coincidences  between  its  different  and 
most  widely  separated  parts — all  found,  on  care- 
ful examination,  to  be  in  perfect  harmony  with 
each  other,  and  yet,  such  as  would  never  be 
thought  of  by  a  forger,  though  Satan  himself 
were  at  his  ell)ow.  In  short,  it  is  inimitahle — 
resembling  that  fine,  delicately -tinted  paper, 
used  for  certain  purposes,  which  is  of  such  ex- 
quisite texture,  that  no  skill,  even  of  the  man- 
ufacturer himself,  can  produce  the  like  ;  and  the 
genuineness  of  which  the  practised  eye  can  per- 
ceive at  once,  by  simply  holding  it  up  to  the  sun. 
These,  with  their  kindred  topics,  we  waive  for 
the  reason  mentioned,  and  proceed  to  our  main 
object ;  premising,  that  nothing  moi'e  must  be 
looked  for  than  a  meagre  specimen  of  the  evi- 
dence. The  quotations  are  extracted  from  the 
immense  collection  of  the  learned  and  accurate 
Lardner,  with  a  few  additions  from  his  German 
continuators. 


50  CANON    OF    THE 

TESTIMONIES,*  &c. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  follow  the  subject  below  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, as  the  existence  of  our  Canon  at  that  time  is  perfectly 
established  and  indisputable.  In  stating  the  evidence,  we  take 
our  position  in  the  fourth  century,  and  ascend  to  the  first,  herein 
differing  from  Dr.  L. ;  because  it  is  more  natural  to  proceed  from 
what  is  certain  to  what  is  obscure,  than  in  a  contrary  direction. 
The  notices  of  the  very  early  (Apostolical)  fathers  are  so  imper- 
fect, that  they  would  make  little  impression  by  themselves ;  but 
when  the  light  of  the  following  ages  is  reflected  on  them,  they 
become  a  highly  satisfactory  part  of  the  evidence. 

lY.  CENTURY. 

COUNCIL    OF    NICE,    A.    D.    325. 

This  famous  Assembly  is  introduced  here,  not  to  give  its  testi- 
mony, but  to  acknowledge  that  it  has  none  to  give.  The  notion 
that  the  Nicene  Synod  fixed  the  Canon  of  Scripture,  or  in  any 
way  contributed  to  it  by  its  deliberations  and  acts,  is  a  pure  fiction 

*  There  is  a  fact  relative  to  the  Canon,  which  readers  should  be  acquainted  with, 
before  they  enter  on  the  examination  of  witnesses,  that  they  may  not  experience  a 
disagreeable  shock.  From  very  early  times,  a  marked  distinction  was  made  in 
the  Christian  church,  between  those  books  which  vfere  universally  received  as 
genuine,  and  others  on  which  opinion  was  divided,  in  consequence  of  their  want- 
ing the  clear,  commanding  evidence  possessed  by  the  former.  They  were  not 
proscribed,  nor  positively  branded  with  the  name  of  Apocrypha,  but  their  claim 
was  doubted,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  rarely  quoted  by  the  more  ancient 
Fathers.  The  following  books  belong  to  this  class  :  The  epistles  of  James,  and 
Jude,  the  2d  of  Peter,  the  2d  and  3d  of  John,  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  Rev- 
elation. They  were  called  the  "Controverted"  books  {avTLKeyoiiEva,)\\\Q  others 
beirg  styled  the  "  universally  acknowledged"  {ufioTioyovfieva) .  That  the  hesita- 
tion felt  concerning  them  was  without  solid  reasons,  seems  probable  from  the  fact 
that  it  gave  way  to  a  thorough  investigation  ;  as  no  trace  of  tlie  distinction  is 
found  after  the  fourth  century.  That  it  should  exist  before  the  scrutiny,  was  per- 
fectly natural,  and  proves  the  anxious  care  with  which  Christians  guarded  their 
sacred  catalogues  against  impure  mixtures.  There  is  no  reason,  therefore,  why  we 
should  feel  uncomfortable  at  discovering  in  some  of  the  testimonies  quoted,  what 
otherwise  might  be  thought  and  called  a  "hiatus  valde  dcflendus."  This  very 
hiatus  silences  one  of  the  worst  calumnies  of  infidelity. 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  51 

which  has  found  favor  with  some,  because  it  seemed  to  counte- 
nance their  theory,  that  we  have  received  the  Canon  of  Scripture 
from  the  Church  ;  and  wliich  infidels  in  their  turn  have  seized 
upon  to  bolster  up  their  favorite  maxim,  that  our  present  cata- 
logue is  not  the  work  of  candid  investigation,  but  ecclesiastical 
enactment. 

There  is  not  the  least  reason  to  believe  that  the  subject  ever 
came  before  the  Council ;  most  certainly,  it  was  never  acted  on. 
The  universal  reception  of  certain  books  and  exclusion  of  others, 
was  the  result  of  honest  conviction,  founded  on  a  careful  examina- 
tion o'f  what  had  been  handed  down  from  the  wise  of  former 
times.  Their  genuineness  was  regarded  as  a  historical  fact,  to  be 
proved  exactly  as  the  genuineness  of  other  documents;  and  so  they 
did  prove  it,  without  fear  of  Synods  and  Synodical  fulminations. 
The  fact,  that  a  majority  of  the  witnesses  were  of  the  clerical 
order,  is  a  mere  circumstance,  in  no  way  affecting  the  nature  of 
their  testimony.  They  certify  the  universal  reception,  simply  as 
individuals  who  have  faithfully  examined  the  subject ;  and  their 
certificate  would  be  quite  as  valuable,  if  every  one  of  them  had 
belonged  to  the  laity.  Doubtless  it  would  have  been  more  so,  as 
the  charge  could  not  be  made  in  this  case,  of  interested  motives 
and  combination. 

Those  persons  who  talk  of  our  receiving  the  Canon  of  Scrip- 
ture from  the  "  church,"  in  some  mysterious  way,  as  if  the  gen- 
uineness could  not  or  ought  not  to  be  proved  in  the  same  manner 
with  any  other  fact  in  history,  seem  to  forget  very  strangely, 
that  a  most  important  part  of  the  evidence  is  furnished  by  here- 
tics and  heathen  enemies, — by  men,  in  short,  whom  the  church 
disowns  and  abhors.  It  may  seem  paradoxical  to  some,  but  it  is 
perfectly  true,  that  if  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  never  instituted 
a  visible  community,  called  a  "  church,"  on  the  earth,  but  had 
left  his  religion  to  operate  by  the  mere  force  of  its  principles  on 
individual  minds,  the  evidence  for  the  genuineness  and  apostolic- 
ity  of  the  New  Testament  would  scarcely  be  in  the  least  affected 
hy  it. 

No  less  than  ten  Catalogues  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 


52  CANON    OF    THE 

ment,  by  writers  of  this  age,  have  come  down  to  us ;  all  perfectly 
agreeing  with  our  own,  except  that  a  few  omit  the  Hebrews  and 
Revelation. 

AUGUSTINE FLOURISHED    A.    D.    395. 

After  enumerating  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  he  pro- 
ceeds thus :  "  Of  the  New,  there  are  the  four  books  of  the  gospel, 
according  to  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John ;  fourteen  epistles  of 
the  Apostle  Paul, — to  the  Romans,  two  to  the  Corinthians,  to  the 
Galatians,  Ephesians,  Philippians,  two  to  the  Thessalonians,  to  the 
Colossians,  two  to  Timothy,  to  Titus,  Philemon,  the  Hebrews ; 
two  epistles  of  Peter,  three  of  John,  one  of  Jude,  and  one  of 
James  ;  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  one  book  ;  and  the  Revela- 
tion of  John  in  one  book.  In  these  books,  they  who  fear  God 
seek  his  will." 

"None  can  forbear  observing,"  says  Dr.  Lardner,  "how  clean 
a  catalogue  here  is  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament." 

ATHANASIUS,    A.    D.    326. 

"  The  books  of  the  New  Testament  are  these :  the  four  Gos- 
pels, according  to  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John.  Then  after  them 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  seven  epistles  of  the  Apostles, 
called  Catholic ;  of  James,  one,  Peter,  two,  John,  three,  Jude, 
one.  Besides  these,  there  are  the  fourteen  epistles  of  the  Apostle 
Paul,  the  order  of  which  is  thus :  the  first,  to  the  Romans,  then, 
two  to  the  Corinthians,  that  to  the  Galatians,  the  next,  to  the 
Ephesians,  then,  to  the  Philippians,  to  the  Colossians,  two  to  the 
Thessalonians,  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  two  to  Timothy,  to 
Titus  one,  the  last  to  Philemon ;  and  again,  the  Revelation  of  John. 
These  are  the  fountains  of  salvation,  that  he  who  thirsts  may  be 
satisfied  with  tlie  oracles  contained  in  them  :  in  these  alone  the 
doctrine  of  religion  is  taught :  let  no  man  add  to  them  or  take 
anything  from  them." 

In  his  writings  he  quotes  all  our  books. 

JEROME,    A.    D.   322. 

He  names  and  describes  all  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament. 
"  The  first  are  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John,  the  chariot  of  the 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  53 

Lord,  and  the  true  cherubim,  who  go  wherever  the  Spirit  leads 
them.  The  Apostle  Paul  writes  to  seven  churches ;  for  the 
eighth,  that  of  the  Hebrews,  by  many  is  not  reckoned  among 
them.  He  likeAvise  instructs  Timothy  and  Titus,  and  intercedes 
with  Philemon  for  a  runaway  servant.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles, 
another  work  of  Luke  the  Physician,  whose  praise  is  in  the  Gos- 
pel, contain  the  history  of  the  infancy  of  the  church.  The  apos- 
tles James,  Peter,  John,  Jude,  write  seven  epistles,  of  few  words, 
but  full  of  sense  :  the  Revelation  of  John  has  as  many  mysteries 
as  words."  Jerome  published  a  Latin  translation  of  the  New 
Testament  containing  precisely  our  books. 

EUSEBIUS,    A.    D.    315. 

"  It  will  be  proper  to  enumerate  here,  in  a  summary  way,  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  which  have  been  already  men- 
tioned. And  in  the  first  place,  are  to  be  ranked  the  sacred  four 
Gospels ;  then,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  after  that,  the  epistles 
of  Paul.  In  the  next  place,  that  called  the  first  epistle  of  John, 
and  the  [first]  epistle  of  Peter  are  to  be  esteemed  authentic. 
After  these,  is  to  be  placed,  if  it  be  thought  fit,  the  Eevelation 
of  John,  about  which  we  shall  observe  the  different  opinions  at 
a  proper  season.  Of  the  controverted^  but  yet  Avell  known  or 
approved  by  the  most,  are  that  called  the  epistle  of  James,  and 
that  of  Jude,  and  the  second  of  Peter,  and  the  second  and  third 
of  John ;  whether  they  are  written  by  the  evangelist,  or  another 
of  the  same  name.  Among  the  spurioKs,  are  to  be  placed  the 
Acts  of  Paul,  and  the  book  entitled  the  Shepherd,  and  the  Revela- 
tion of  Peter :  and  besides  these  that  called  the  epistle  of  Bar- 
nabas, and  the  book  named  the  Doctrines  of  the  Apostles.  And 
moreover,  as  I  said,  the  Revelation  of  John,  if  it  seem  meet, 
which  some  reject,  others  reckon  among  the  books  universally 
received." 

There  is  some  obscurity  in  this  statement  which  has  given 
trouble  to  critics,  but  the  essential  facts  are  clearly  stated. 


54  CANON    OF    THE 

III.  CENTURY. 

Two  formal  catalogues  have  come  down  to  us.  But  Dr.  Lard- 
ner  quotes  forty  writers  who  give  ample  testimony  to  our  present 
Canon.   , 

CYPRIAN,    A.    D.    248. 

He  mentions  the  four  Gospels  by  the  names  of  their  authors, 
comparing  them  "  to  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise."  By  them  the 
"  Church  is  watered,  and  her  plants  are  enabled  to  bear  fruit." 
Dr.  Lardner  extracts  from  him  at  length  quotations  from  Acts, 
Rom.  I.  and  II.  Cor.  Gal  Eph.  Phil.  Col  Thess.  Tim.  Tit.— in 
short, — all  Paul's  epistles  except  the  Hebrews.  He  also  quotes 
1st  Peter  arid  1st  John,  and  the  Revelation  often.  There  is  not 
in  Cyprian  one  quotation  from  any  apocryphal  writer. 

VICTORINUS,    A.    D.    290. 

In  his  commentary  on  the  Revelation,  he  speaks  of  the  four 
Gospels  thus — "  The  four  living  creatures  (Rev.  iv.  6,)  are  the 
four  Gospels.  These  living  creatures  have  different  faces,  Avhich 
have  a  meaning  ;  for  the  living  creature  like  a  lion,  denotes  Mark, 
in  whom  the  voice  of  a  lion  roaring  in  the  wilderness  is  heard  : 
"  A  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness.  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord."'  Matthew,  who  has  the  resemblance  of  a  man,  shows  the 
family  of  Mary,  from  whom  Christ  took  flesh.  Luke,  who  relates 
the  priesthood  of  Zacharias  offering  sacrifice  for  the  people,  be- 
cause of  the  priesthood  and  the  mention  of  the  sacrifice,  has  the 
resemblance  of  a  calf.  The  evangelist  John,  like  an  eagle  with 
stretched-out  wings  mounting  on  high,  speaks  the  Word  of  God.' 

Dr.  Lardner  shows  that  he  must  have  read  all  Paul's  epistles 
except  the  Hebrews,  of  which  he  makes  no  mention.  On  the 
Revelation,  he  wrote  a  Commentary. 

ORIGEN,   A.    D.   230. 

"  As  I  have  learned  by  tradition  concerning  the  four  Gospels, 
which  alone  are  received  without  dispute  hy  the  whole  church  of  God 
under  heaven.  The  first  was  written  by  Matthew,  once  a  publi- 
lican,  afterwards  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ.     The  second  is  that 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  55 

according  to  Mark,  who  wrote  it  as  Peter  dictated  it  to  him. 
The  third  is  that  according  to  Luke,  pubUslied  for  the  sake  of 
the  Gentile  converts.  Lastly,  that  according  to  John.  Paul  did 
not  write  to  all  the  churches  he  had  taught ;  and  to  those  to 
which  he  did  write,  he  sent  only  a  few  lines.  Peter  has  left  one 
epistle  [universally]  acknowledged.  But  let  it  be  granted  like- 
Avise  that  he  wrote  a  second ;  for  it  is  doubted  of.  But  what 
need  I  speak  of  John,  who  leaned  upon  the  breast  of  Jesus,  who 
has  left  us  one  Gospel.  He  wrote  also  the  Revelation.  He  has 
also  left  an  epistle  of  a  very  few  lines.  Grant  also  a  second  and 
a  third  ;  for  all  do  not  allow  these  to  be  genuine." 

In  another  place  he  speaks  thus :  "  Matthew  sounds  first  with 
his  priestly  trumpet  in  his  gospel;  Mark  also,  and  Luke,  and 
John,  sounded  with  their  priestly  trumpets.  Peter  likewise 
sounds  aloud  with  the  two  trumpets  of  his  epistles ;  James  also, 
and  Jude.  And  John  sounds  again  with  his  trumpet  in  his  epis- 
tles, and  the  Revelation ;  and  Luke  also  once  more,  relating  the 
actions  of  the  apostles.  Last  of  all  comes  Paul,  and  sounding 
with  the  trumpets  of  his  fourteen  epistles,  he  threw  down  to  the 
foundations  the  walls  of  Jericho,  and  all  the  engines  of  idolatry, 
and  the  schemes  of  the  philosophers." 

Origen's  quotations  from  the  New  Testament  are  so  numerous 
that  they  form  a  volume. 


AN  UNKNOWN  WRITER  QUOTED  BY  5IURAT0RI  IN  HIS  ITALIC  ANTI- 
QUITIES."— 205. 
Who  he  Avas,  is  unknown.  Many  suppose  him  to  be  Caius,  a 
distinguished  writer  who  flourished  at  the  close  of  the  2d  cen- 
tury. Muratori  has  inserted  in  his  work  a  Catalogue  by  this 
author  of  the  New  Testament  books.  Of  its  extreme  antiquity 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  It  is  certainly  not  later,  (according  to 
Hug,)  than  the-close  of  the  second  century.  Being  written  by 
a  member  of  the  Roman  Church,  (evidently,  however,  from  a 
Greek  original,)  the  language  is  Latin,  and  somewhat  barbarous. 


56  CANON    OF    THE 

The  text  also  is  corrupt :  but  the  main  facts  are  clearly  stated. 
It  contains  the  four  Gospels,  thirteen  epistles  of  Paul,  (omitting 
the  HebreAvs),  Jude,  two  epistles  of  John,  probably  one  of  Peter, 
(though  the  text  is  here  corrupt,)  and  the  Eevelation. 

II.  CENTURY. 

TERTULLIAN,    A.    D.    200. 

Of  the  Gospels,  he  says :  "  Vf  e  lay  this  down  for  a  certain 
truth,  that  the  evangelic  Scriptures  have  for  their  authors  the 
Apostles,  to  whom  the  work  of  publishing  the  Gospel  was  com- 
mitted by  the  Lord  himself  Among  the  apostles,  John  and 
Matthew  teach  us  the  faith :  among  apostolical  men,  Luke  and 
Mark  refresh  it."  This  passage  shows  at  once  the  number  of  the 
Gospels  universally  received,  and  the  names  of  their  authors, 
Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John. 

Of  the  Epistles,  he  says : — "  Let  us  then  see  what  milk  the 
Corinthians  received  from  Paul ;  to  what  rule  the  Galatians  were 
reduced ;  what  the  Philippians  read ;  what  the  Thessalonians, 
the  Ephesians,  and  likewise  what  the  Romans  recite,  who  are 
near  to  us ;  with  whom  both  Peter  and  Paul  left  the  Gospel, 
sealed  with  their  blood.  We  have  also  churches  which  are  the 
disciples  of  John ;  for  though  Marcion  rejects  his  Revelation, 
the  succession  of  bishops  traced  np  to  the  beginning  will  show  it  to 
have  John  for  its  author."  Accordingly,  in  his  writings  he 
quotes  largely  from  Rom.  Cor.  Eph.  Gal.  Col.  Thess.  Tim.  Titus, 
1  Peter,  1  John,  Jude,  and  Revelation. 

There  is  a  remarkble  passage  in  his  writings,  that  reads  thus : 
— "  Well,  if  you  be  willing  to  exercise  your  curiosity  profitably 
in  the  business  of  your  salvation,  visit  the  apostolical  churches, 
in  which  the  very  chairs  of  the  apostles  still  preside ;  in  which 
their  very  authentic  letters  are  recited,  sounding  forth  the  voice, 
and  representing  the  countenance,  of  each  one  of  them.  Is 
Achaia  near  you  ?  You  have  Corinth.  If  you  are  not  far  from 
Macedonia,  you  have  Philippi,  you  have  Thessalonica.  If  you 
can  go  to  Asia,  you  have  Ephesus.  But  if  you  are  near  to  Italy 
you  have  Rome,  from  whence  we  may  also  be  easily  satisfied." 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  57 

What  he  means  by  the  "  authentic  letters "  of  the  Apostles, 
which  he  says  have  been  deposited  with  the  churches,  is  disputed. 
But  it  certainly  establishes  the  fact,  that  correct  copies,  if  not  the 
originals,  were  laid  up  in  the  sacred  libraries  of  the  churches  re- 
ferred to,  and  were  open  to  examination. 

CLEMENS   ALEXANDRINUS,    A.    D.    194. 

Dr.  Lardner,  after  an  elaljorate  array  of  quotations  by  this 
Avriter  from  the  New  Testament,  thus  sums  up  his  testimony. 
"  He  has  expressly  owned  the  four  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark, 
Luke,  and  John,  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  he  also 
ascribes  to  Luke.  He  owns  likewise  aU  the  foiirteen  epistles  of 
Paul  except  the  epistle  to  Philemon.  He  has  also  quoted  the 
first  epistle  of  Peter,  the  1st  and  2d  of  John,  Jude,  and  the 
Revelation." 

After  an  examination  of  his  citations  from  various  Apocryphal 
works,  he  adds — "  On  the  whole,  it  appears  there  is  no  good 
reason  to  suppose,  that  Clement  received  as  Scripture  in  the 
highest  sense  of  the  word,  any  writings  besides  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament  now  commonly  received  by  us."  The  remark 
is  important ;  as  Clemens  is  the  only  Father  against  whom  the 
charge  is  made  with  any  plausibility,  of  appealing  to  the  authority 
of  Apocryphal  writers. 

IREN^US,    A.    D.    170. 

His  testimony  to  the  four  Grospels  is  most  explicit.  "  We  have 
not  received  the  knowledge  of  the  way  of  our  salvation  by  any 
others  than  those  by  whom  the  Gospel  has  been  brought  to  us ; 
which  Gospel  they  first  preached,  and  afterwards  by  the  will  of 
God  committed  to  writing ;  that  it  might  be  for  time  to  come 
the  foundation  and  pillar  of  our  faith.  For  after  that  our  Lord 
rose  from  the  dead,  the  apostles  .  .  .  received  a  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  all  things.  They  then  went  forth  to  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  declaring  to  men  the  blessing  of  heavenly  peace,  having 
all  of  them  and  every  one  alike,  the  Gospel  of  God.  Matthew 
then,  among  the  Jews,  wrote  a  Gospel  in  their  own  language. 
4 


58  CANON    OF    THE 

Mark,  also,  the  disciple  and  interpreter  of  Peter,  delivered  to  us 
in  writing,  things  that  had  been  preached  by  Peter ;  and  Luke, 
the  companion  of  Paul,  put  down  in  a  book  the  Grospel  preached 
by  him  [Paul].  Afterwards,  John,  the  disciple  of  the  Lord,  who 
also  leaned  upon  his  breast,  published  a  Gospel  while  he  dwelt 
at  Ephesus  in  Asia.  And  he  who  does  not  assent  to  them  de- 
spiseth,  indeed,  those  who  knew  the  mind  of  the  Lord ;  but  he 
despiseth  also  Christ  himself  the  Lord;  and  he  despiseth  like- 
wise the  Father,  and  is  self-condemned,  resisting  and  opposing 
his  own  salvation." 

That  he  received  all  the  epistles  of  Paul,  is  evinced  by  his  nu- 
merous quotations  from  all  of  them  except  Pliilemon  and  the 
Hebrews,  of  which  Dr.  Lardner  gives  eighteen  examples.  "  The 
same  thing  Paul  has  explained  in  the  Romans ;"  "  This  Paul 
manifestly  shows  in  the  epistle  to  the  Corinthians :"  "  As  the 
blessed  Paul  says  in  the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians,"  and  other  hke 
expressions  continually  occur  in  his  writings.  The  Revelation 
he  expressly  ascribes  to  "  John,  the  disciple  of  Christ."  Dr. 
Lardner  says  his  testimony  is  so  strong  and  full,  that  he  seems 
to  put  it  beyond  all  question  that  it  is  the  work  of  John  the 
Apostle. 

JUSTIN    MARTYR,    A.    D.    130. 

The  writings  of  this  eminent  man,  born  not  long  after  the  death 
of  the  Apostles,  and  acquainted  with  their  immediate  disciples, 
— though  few  and  small,  are  rich  in  references  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment. He  seldom  names  the  particular  books.  But  in  these 
early  times,  there  were  no  controversies  rendering  it  necessary. 
He  often  speaks  of  the  Gospels  as  "  Memoirs  of  Christ,"  and 
says,  that  "  the  Apostles  composed  them."  In  his  writings  there 
are  references  more  or  less  clear  (Dr.  L.  gives  fifteen)  to  Acts, 
Rom.  Cor.  Gal.  Eph.  Phil.  Col.  Thess.  Heb.  Peter,  and  the  Revela- 
tion, which  last  he  expressly  ascribes  to  the  Apostle  John. 

He  also  declares  it  to  be  a  general  practice,  that  "  the  Gospels 
are  read  at  public  worship  in  Christian  assemblies  every  Lord's 
day  as  the  time  allows,  and  when  the  reader  has  ended,  the 
President  makes  a  discourse  exhorting  to  the  imitation  of  so 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  59 

excellent  things."  This  is  a  striking  fact,  proving  that  so  early 
as  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  they  were  acknowledged 
to  be  genuine,  regarded  with  the  highest  esteem,  and  open  to  all 
the  world. 

A  similar  testimony  might  have  been  quoted  from  TertuUian. 
"  We  come  together,"  he  says,  "  to  recollect  the  Divine  Scriptures. 
We  nourish  our  faith,  raise  our  hope,  confirm  our  trust  by  the 
sacred  word." 

OLD    TRANSLATIONS    BETWEEN    100    AND    200. 

It  does  not  admit  a  doubt  that  the  old  Syriac  version,  which 
has  come  down  to  us  in  a  sound  condition,  was  composed  at  this 
early  period.  The  more  ancient  copies  want  2d  Peter,  2d  and 
3d  John,  and  probably  James :  and  this  circumstance  probably 
fostered  the  doubts  of  the  early  fathers  concerning  these  books. 
But  with  regard  to  all  the  others,  it  is  complete.  The  old  Italic 
versions,  for  they  were  many,  have  also  come  down  more  or  less 
perfect.  They  were  composed  at  the  same  period  ;  and  the  fact 
that  Jerome,  who  in  the  fourth  century  digested  them  into  one 
(the  present  Latin  Vulgate)  which  contains  precisely  our  books, 
says  nothing  of  having  added  to  the  collection,  proves  satisfac- 
torily that  it  was  the  same  with  his  own. 

I.  CENTURY. 

APOSTOLIC     FATHERS. 

We  have  now  reached  the  age  of  the  immediate  disciples  and 
contemporaries  of  the  Apostles.  If  the  evidence  be  not  so  full 
and  overpowering  as  that  of  the  following  times,  let  it  be  con- 
sidered— 

1st.  That  exceedingly  little  remains  of  the  genuine  writings 
of  the  Apostolical  Fathers.  The  whole  can  be  contained  in  a 
pamphlet  of  thirty  pages. 

2d.  What  we  have  is  pious  exhortation,  that  does  not  require 
appeals  to  authority. 

3.  The  various  books  had  not  yet  been  so  extensively  circu- 
lated, as  to  make  it  certain  that  every  Christian  church  was 


CANON    OF    THE 


acquainted  with  them.      It  required  some  time,  therefore,  to 
establish  the  custom  of  quoting  them. 

POLTCARP,    A.    D.    100. 

All  that  remains  of  this  holy  martyr,  is  a  short  letter  to  the 
Philippians,  in  which  he  distinctly  refers  to  the  epistle  of  Paul  to 
that  church — "  For  neither  I  nor  any  one  like  me,  can  come  up  to 
the  wisdom  of  blessed  and  renowned  Paul,  who,  when  absent, 
wrote  to  you  (the  Philippians)  an  epistle." 

Occasionally  he  quotes  passages  with  some  formality,  as — 

NEW  TESTAilENT.  POLYCARP. 

1  Cor.  vi.  2.     Do  ye  not  know  that  the  "  Do  we  not  know  that  the  saints  shall 

saints  shall  judge  the  world  ?  judge  the  world  f "  as  Paul  teaches. 

Eph.  iv.  26.  Be  ye  angry  and  sin  not :  "  For  I  trust  that  ye  are  well  exercised 
let  not  the  sun  go  down  upon  your  in  the  holy  scriptures  :  'As  in  these  scrip- 
wrath,  tures  it  is  said  :  Be  yo  angry  and  sin  not. 

And  let  not  the  sun  go  down  upon  your 
wrath.'  " 

Matt,  V,  3,     Blessed   are  the  poor   in  "  But    remembering  what    the    Lord 

spirit :    for    theirs    la    tt(o    kingdom   of  said  :  '  Be  ye  merciful,  that  ye  may  ob- 

Jieaven.    Y.  Blegsed  are  the  merciful,  for  tain  mercy.     Blessed  are  the  poor,  and 

they  sljall  obtain  njorcy.     Blessed  ^re  they  tljat  are  persecuted  for  righteous- 

they  which  are  persecuted  for  rigljteous-  nesg'  sake:  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 

jiess'  sake,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  God.'  " 
^eayen. 

Luke  yi.  37.    Judge  not,  and  yo  shall  "The  Lord  said,  'Judge  not,  that  ye 

not  be  judged.  be  not  judged.'" 

Mark   xiv.   38.     The  spirit  indeed  is  "The  Lord  hath  said,  f  The  spirit  in? 

^wiljing^  but  the  flesh  is  weak,  tloed  is  \yilling;  l^ut  tt|e  flesh  is  -syeak.'  " 

More  frequently,  he  only  refers  to  passages;  borrowing  the 
sentiments  and  language  of  the  sacred  writers,  without  expressly 
naming  them,  as — 

^.  T.  fOLyCAEP, 

Acts  Ti.  24.     Whom  God  hath  raised  "  Whom    God    hath    raised,    having 

'up,  having  loosed  the  pains  of  death. ,    ■  loosed  the  pains  of  hell. 

Rom.  xiv.  10.     We  shall  all  siar,d  be-  "  And  must  all  stand  before  the  judg- 

ifore  the  judgment  sofl-t  of  Christ>    12. ^So,  ment  seat  of  Christ,  and  every  one  give 

tftem,  ^vory  one  of  ps  shall  give  an  ac-  an  account  for  hiniself." 
count  of  himself  to  pod. 

1  Corf  vi.  9-    ^Pither  fornicators,  nor  i'  And  neitlier  fornicators,  nor  effofBi' 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  61 


idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nate,  nor  abusers  of  themselves  with 

nor   abusers  of   themselves  with   man-  mankind,  shall  inherit   the  kingdom  of 

kind;    10.     Shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 
God. 

Eph.  ii.  8.    For  by  grace  are  ye  saved  "  Knowing  that  by  grace  ye  are  saved 

through  faith  ;    and  that  not  of  your-  not  of  works,  but  by  the  will  of  God 

selves:    it  is    the  gift  of   God — not  of  through  Jesus  Christ.'' 
works. 

1  Thess.  v.  17.  Pray  without  ceasing.  "  Praying  without  ceasing  for  all." 

1  Tim.  vi.  7.     For  we  brought  nothing  "  The  love  of  money  is  the  beginning 

with  us  into  this  world,  and  it  is  certain  of  all  troubles.    Knowing,  therefore,  that 

we  can  carry  nothing  out.     10.  For  the  as  we  brought  nothing  into  the  world,  so 

love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil.  neither  can  we  carry  anything  out." 

1  Pet.  i.  8.     Whom  having  not  seen  ye  "  In  whom  though  ye  see  him  not  ye 

love  ;  in  whom  though  now  ye  see  him  believe,  and  believing  ye  rejoice  with 

not,  yet  believing  ye  rejoice  with  joy  un-  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 
speakable  and  full  of  glory. 

1  Pet.  ii.  22.     Who  did  no  sin,  neither  "  Wlio  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body 

was  guile  found  in  his  mouth.     23.  Who  on  the  tree  ;  who  did  no  sin,  neither  was 

his  own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own.  guile  found  in  his  mouth." 
body  on  the  tree. 

1  John  iv.  3.     And  every  spirit  that  "  For  whoever    confesscth    not    that 

confesseth    not  that    Jesus  Christ    has  Jesus  Christ    is    come  in  the  flesh,  is 

come  in  the  flesh,  is  not  of  God  :   and  Antichrist, 
this  is  that  spirit  of  Antichrist,  whereof 
you  have  heard,  &c. 

Nearly  thirty  examples  of  this  kind  are  found  in  this  brief  let- 
ter ;  proving  the  author's  perfect  famiUarity  with  all  the  books  of 
the  New  Testament,  except  a  few  of  the  minor  epistles. 

IGNATIUS,  A.  D.  100. 

According  to  Chrysostom,  he  personally  conversed  w^ith  many 
of  the  Apostles.  The  only  genuine  remains  of  him  are  seven 
short  epistles.  One  is  a  letter  to  the  Ephesians,  in  which  he  ex- 
pressly mentions  the  epistle  written  to  them  a  few  years  before  by 
Paul.  "  Ye  are  the  companions  (he  says)  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
Gospel  of  the  blessed  Paul,  who  throughout  all  his  epistle  makes 
mention  of  (i.  e.  commends)  you  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Tliis  is  the  only  book  expressly  named,  but  there  are  more 
than  forty  examples  in  the  few  pages  which  contain  his  writings, 
of  his  employing  the  language  of  the  New  Testament:  with 
which  he  must  therefore  have  been  acquainted,  as— 


62 


CANON    OF    THE 


N.  T. 

Matt.  iii.  15.  For  thus  it  becomes  us 
to  fulfil  all  righteo;i,sness. 

Matt.  s.  16.  Be  yc  therefore  wise  as 
serpents,  and  harmless  as  doves. 

John  iii.  8.  The  wind  bloweth  where 
it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound 
thereof :  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it 
Cometh  and  whither  it  goeth  :  so  is  every 
one  that  is  born  of  the  spirit. 

Acts  X.  41.  Who  did  cat  and  drink 
with  him  after  he  arose  from  the  dead. 

1  Cor.  i.  18.  For  the  preaching  of  the 
cross  is  to  them  that  perish  foolishness  : 
but  unto  us  which  are  saved  it  is  the 
power  of  God.  19.  For  it  is  written — 
I  will  bring  to  nothing  the  understanding 
of  the  prudent.  20.  Where  is  the  wise  1 
Where  is  the  scribe  ?  Where  is  the  dis- 
puter  of  this  world  ? 

Eph.  V.  25.  Husbands,  love  your 
wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  the 
Church  and  gave  himself  for  it. 


IGNATIUS. 

"  Bapti.=ed  of  John,  that  all  righteous- 
ness might  be  fulfilled  by  him." 

"  Be  wise  as  a  serpent  in  all  things, 
and  harmless  as  a  dove." 

"The  spirit  is  not  deceived,  being 
from  God  ;  for  it  knows  whence  it  comes, 
and  whither  it  goes,  and  reproves  secret 
things." 

"  But  after  his  resurrection  he  did  eat 
and  drink  with  them. 

"  Let  my  life  be  sacrificed  for  the  doc- 
trine of  the  cross,  which  is  a  stumbhng- 
block  unto  unbelievers,  but  to  us  salva- 
tion and  hfe  eternal.  Where  is  the  wise? 
Where  is  the  disputer?  Where  is  the 
boasting  of  them  that  are  called  pru- 
dent? 

"  Exhort  my  brethren,  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  love  their  wives  as  the 
Lord  the  Church." 


The  reference  to  other  books,  particularly  Philippians,  Colos- 
sians,  Thessalonians,  Timothy,  Titus,  1st  and  2d  John,  are  equally 
striking  and  unequivocal. 


CLEMENS   ROMANUS,  A.  D.  96. 

The  friend  and  fellow-laborer  of  Paul,  whom  he  specially 
names  in  Phil.  iv.  3.  So  the  ancients  positively  attest,  without  a 
dissenting  voice.  He  has  only  left  a  short  epistle  to  the  Corinthi- 
ans. In  it,  Paul's  epistle  to  the  same  church  is  expressly  men- 
tioned. 


N.  T. 

1  Cor.  i.  11, 12.  For  it  hath  been  de- 
clared unto  me  of  you,  my  brethren,  .  .  . 
that  there  are  contentions  among  you. 
Now  this  I  say,  that  every  one  of  you 
saith  that  I  am  of  Paul ;  and  I  of  ApoUos  ; 
and  I  of  Cephas  ;  and  I  of  Christ. 


CLEMENS. 

"Take  into  your  hands  the  epistle  of 
the  blessed  Paul  the  apostle.  What  did 
he  at  the  first  write  to  you  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Gospel  ?  Verily  he  did  by  the 
spirit  admonish  you  concerning  himself 
and  Cephas  and  ApoUos,  because  that 
even  then,  you  did  form  parties." 


NEW    TESTAMENT. 


68 


This  is  the  only  instance  of  a  book  of  the  New  Testament  being 
named.  But  there  are  more  than  forty  manifest  references  like 
the  following : 


N.  T. 

Matt.  xxvi.  24.  Woo  to  that  man  by 
whom  the  Son  of  Maa  is  betrayed  :  it 
had  been  good  for  that  man  if  he  had  not 
been  born.  Matt,  xviii.  6.  Whoso  shall 
offend  one  of  these  Uttle  ones  which  be- 
lieve in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a 
millstone  were  hanged  about  his  necli 
and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the  depth 
of  the  sea. 

Luke  vi.  36.  Be  ye  therefore  merciful 
as  your  Father  also  is  merciful. 

Bom.  i.  29.  Being  filled  with  all  un- 
righteousness, fornication,  wickedness, 
covetousness,  maliciousness  ;  full  of  en- 
vy, murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity, 
whisperings,  (30)  backbiters,  haters  of 
God,  despiteful,  proud,  boasters.  32. 
Who  knowing  the  judgment  of  God 
(that  they  which  do  such  things  are  wor- 
thy of  death)  not  only  do  the  same,  but 
have  pleasure  in  them  that  do  them. 

1  Cor.  15-20.  But  now  is  Christ  risen 
from  the  dead,  and  become  the  first- 
fruits  of  them  that  slept. 


1  Tim.  ii.  8.  I  will  therefore,  that  men 
pray  everywhere,  lifting  up  holy  hands 
without  wrath  and  doubting. 

Eph.  iv.  4.  There  is  one  body  and  one 
spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope 
of  your  calling.  5.  One  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism.  6.  One  God  and  Father 
of  all. 

Heb.  iii.  5.  And  Moses  verily  was 
faithful  in  all  hig  house. 

1  Peter  iv.  8.  For  charity  shall  cover 
a  multitude  of  sins. 


CLEMEXS. 

"  Remember  the  words  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  For  he  said, '  Woe  to  that  man 
[by  whom  offences  come.]  It  were  bet- 
ter for  him  that  he  had  not  been  born 
than  that  he  should  offend  one  of  my 
elect.  It  were  better  for  him  that  a  mill- 
stone should  be  tied  about  his  neck,  and 
that  he  should  be  drowned  in  the  sea, 
than  that  he  should  offend  one  of  my 
little  ones.'  " 

"  Especially  remembering  the  words 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  '  Be  ye  merciful,  that 
ye  may  obtain  mercy.'  " 

"  Casting  of  from  us  all '  unrighteous- 
ness and  iniquity,  covetousness,  debates, 
malignity,  deceits,  whisperings,  backbit- 
ings,  hatred  of  God,  pride,  boasting,' 
and  vain-glory  and  ambition.  '  For  they 
that  do  these  things  are  hateful  to  God  : 
and  not  only  thej'  that  do  them, but  they 
also  who  have  pleasure  in  them.'  " 


"  Let  us  consider,  beloved,  how  the 
Lord  does  continually  show  us,  that 
there  shall  be  a  resurrection.  Of  which 
ho  has  made  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  the 
first-fruits,  having  raised  him  from  the 
dead." 

"  Let  us  therefore  come  to  him  in  ho- 
liness of  soul,  lifting  up  to  him  chaste 
and  undeQled  hands." 

"  Have  we  not  one  God,  and  one 
Christ?  And  is  there  not  one  spirit 
poured  out  upon  us,  and  one  calling  in 
Christ." 

"When  also  Moses,  that  blessed  and 
'  faithful '  servant  in  all  his  house." 

"  Charity  covers  the  multitude  of 
sins." 


64  CANON    OF    THE 

'■    2  Peter  ii.   5.    And   saved   Noah,  a        "  Noah  preached  repentance,  and  they 
preacher  of  righteousness.  who  hearkened  [to  him]  were  saved." 

Such  coincidences  of  thought  and  expression,  it  is  impossible 
to  consider  as  accidental.  On  the  whole,  it  seems  certain,  that 
Clement  had  in  his  hands  at  least  the  first  three  Grospels,  the  Acts, 
and  the  five  principal  epistles  of  Paul. 


SUMMARY. 


As  the  mind  is  apt  to  be  confused  and  lost 
in  a  multitude  of  quotations,  we  shall  endeavor 
to  aid  the  reader,  by  a  brief  commentary  and 
summing  up. 

Commencing  with  the  fourth  century  for  a 
reason  already  given,  we  find  that  no  less  than 
ten  principal  writers  have  furnished  catalogues, 
six  of  which  agree  perfectly  with  our  collection. 
The  others  only  differ  in  this ;  that  they  omit 
the  Revelation,  and  one  of  them  the  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews.     How  perfectly  decisive  this  fact ! 

Moving  our  post  of  observation  to  the  third 
century,  we  do  not  find  such  a  number  of  regu- 
lar catalogues :  indeed,  there  are  but  two  that 
may  be  called  complete.  Yet  the  evidence  is 
equally   satisfying.      The   number   of    writers 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  65 

from  whom  Lardner  quotes  in  proof  of  the  ex- 
istence and  recognition  of  our  books,  is  about 
forty ^  of  whom  it  would  be  hardly  too  bold  to 
say,  that  they  are  "of  every  nation,  and  kin- 
dred, and  tongue,  and  people."  Even  the  dark 
forests  of  Germany  send  forth  a  trumpet  voice 
in  attestation  of  the  Christian  verity.  We  refer 
to  the  venerable  martyr  Victorinus,  bishop  of 
Pettaw,  a  town  on  the  river  Drave.  He  ex- 
pressly quotes  the  four  Gospels  by  name.  He 
quotes  also  the  Acts,  and  speaks  of  the  seven 
churches  to  which  Paul  wrote  Epistles.  "After- 
wards (he  adds)  he  wrote  to  particular  per- 
sons ;"  undoubtedly  he  means  Timothy,  Titus, 
and  Philemon.  On  the  Revelation,  he  wrote 
an  elaborate  commentary. 

The  works  of  Cyprian,  bishop  of  Carthage, 
overflow  with  citations,  except  from  James,  Jude, 
2d  Peter,  and  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  to 
which  no  reference  is  made.  The  four  Gospels 
he  mentions  frequently.  Every  epistle  of  Paul 
is  referred  to,  with  the  exception  specified.  So 
are  most  of  the  Catholic  epistles.  Mark  also 
the  fact,  that  in  that  distinguished  Bishop  there 

4* 


66  CANON    OF    THE 

is  not  one  quotation  from  any  spurious  or  apoc 
ryphal  writer. 

Of  the  profound  and  critical  Origen,  Dr.  Mill 
makes  this  striking  remark :  "  Quotations  of 
Scripture  are  so  thickly  sown,  that  if  we  had  all 
his  works  remaining,  we  should  have  before  us 
almost  the  whole  text  of  the  Bible y  His  cata- 
logue has  been  given  in  our  Synoj^sis.  All 
necessary  to  be  remembered  in  examining  it  is, 
the  distinction  made  by  Eiisebius  between  the 
"  controverted"  (av'vi'k&yofjiEva)  books,  and  those 
"  universally  acknowledged"  (miio'koyov^f.va)  to 
which  Origen  subscribes. 

Pursuing  our  course  upward,  we  come  to  the 
second  century ;  and  the  first  whom  we  meet  is 
the  eloquent  Tertullian,  of  whom  Dr.  Lardner 
observes :  "  There  are  in  him  more  and  larger  quo- 
tations from  the  small  volume  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, than  there  are  of  all  the  works  of  Cicero^ 
in  writers  of  all  characters  for  several  ages.''-  Of 
the  Gospels,  he  says :  "  We  lay  this  down  for  a 
certain  truth,  that  the  evangelic  scriptures  have 
for  their  authors  men  to  whom  the  work  of 
pubHshing  the  Gospel  was  committed  by  the 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  67 

Lord  himself.  Concerning  the  epistles  of  Paul, 
he  says :  "  Let  us  then  see  what  milk  the  Corin- 
thians received  from  Paul,  to  what  rule  the 
Galatians  were  subjected,  what  the  Philippians 
read,"  &c.  The  only  books  not  used  by  him 
are  James,  2d  Peter,  2d  and  3d  John. 

Equally  ample  is  the  testimony  of  Clement 
of  Alexandria.  He  asserts  in  various  places 
that  there  are  four  Gospels.  He  receives  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  quotes  frequently  the 
various  epistles  of  Paul. 

The  evidence  of  Irenseus,  Bishop  of  Lyons  in 
France,  is  so  exceedingly  valuable,  that  we  have 
quoted  largely  from  him.  We  find  that  he  re- 
ceived the  four  Gospels,  and  thirteen  epistles  of 
Paul,  which  he  expressly  cites.  No  apocryphal 
book  is  mentioned  by  him,  as  having  any  au- 
thority. 

We  close  the  reviews  of  this  century  with 
Justin  Martyr ;  one  of  the  many  in  these  days, 
who  died  for  their  religion.  The  synopsis  shows 
that  he  frequently  refers  to  our  Gospels,  though 
he  does  not  liame  their  authors,  but  calls  thern 
the  "  Memoirs  of  the  Apostles."    There  ar«  also 


68  CANON    OF    THE 

distinct  references  to  the  Acts,  the  epistles  to  the 
Corinthians,  Colossians,  &c.  Justin  was  born,  ac- 
cording to  some,  in  the  year  89  ;  some  place  him 
a  few  years  later.  How  decisive  is  this  for  the 
genuineness  of  our  books !  When  we  quoted 
the  last  two  or  three  writers,  w^e  came  within  a 
generation  of  the  very  men  who  are  alleged  vrith- 
out  a  dissenting  voice  to  have  written  their 
records ;  and  the  light  of  tradition  still  beams 
forth  radiant  and  clear.  How  could  these  peo- 
ple be  deceived  in  a  matter  so  interesting  to  the 
Christian  as  the  writing  of  his  sacred  books, 
when  their  authors  had  not  been  dead  forty 
years  ? 

The  testimony  that  follows  of  the  old  Sijriac 
and  Italic  versions,  speaks  for  itself,  and  needs  no 
comment. 

We  come  now  to  the  venerable  men  who  lived 
in  the  times  of  the  Apostles,  and  were  honored 
with  their  immediate  instructions  ;  for  which 
reason  they  are  usually  called  the  "  Apostolical 
Fathers."  Though  we  are  able  to  present  few 
strongly  marked  and  formal  quotations,  yet  that 
they  were  acquainted  with  many,  if  not  all,  our 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  69 

sacred  books,  is  beyond  a  doubt.  Let  tlie  reader 
examine  our  synopsis,  marking  the  identity  of 
thought  and  phrase  between  the  extracts  from 
them,  and  the  passages  of  the  New  Testament 
in  the  opposite  column,  and  he  will  find  it  im- 
possible to  adopt  any  other  conclusion.  Be- 
sides, there  are  express  quotations  by  Barnabas, 
Clemens,  Romanus,  Ignatius,  and  Polycarp, 
which  we  ^vill  not  injure  by  an  attempt  at  com- 
pression. 

After  all,  we  have  confessed  that  the  evidence 
of  these  holy  men  is  not  so  overpowering  as 
that  of  their  successors.  But  we  have  also 
explained  it.  Their  works  that  remain  are 
very  few  and  short :  all  that  is  authentic  could 
be  printed  on  twenty  octavo  pages.  The  sub- 
jects on  which  they  wi'ote  were  simple  and  prac- 
tical, not  requiring  an  appeal  to  authorities.  It 
must  be  remembered,  also,  that  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament  had  been  freshly  written,  and 
not  yet  distributed  through  the  churches,  or  col- 
lected into  a  canon.  In  quoting  therefore  large- 
ly from  any  of  them,  they  ran  some  risk  of  not 
being  understood.      Strength  is  given    to  this 


70  CANON    OF    THE 

supposition  by  the  fact  that,  when  they  knew 
from  the  circumstances  of  the  case  that  those 
whom  they  addressed  were  acquainted  with  a 
particular  writing,  they  actually  used  it.  Thus 
Clemens,  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  quotes 
Paul's  epistle  to  that  church ;  and  Barnabas, 
writing  to  the  Philippians,  mentions  his  epistle 
to  them. 

We  here  close  the  argument.  Brief  and  im- 
perfect as  the  statement  has  been,  Ave  fear  that 
some  will  find  it  disagreeably  long.  But  we 
cannot  (and  would  not,  if  we  could,)  turn  an 
inquiry  of  this  kind  into  an  Arabian  tale.  What 
is  said  of  gold,  that  the  richest  mines  are  of- 
ten found  in  the  most  arid  and  inhospitable 
regions,  may  be  applied  to  truth.  Its  most  val- 
uable treasures  fi*equently  lie  concealed  in  the 
most  dry  and  uninteresting  discussions;  and 
doubtless  this  is  the  reason  why  they  are  so 
rarely  discovered. 


NEW  TESTAMENT.  71 


NATURE  OF  THE  EVIDENCE. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  we  sliall  make  a 
reflection  on  tlie  nature  of  the  evidence  adduced. 
It  claims  no  mysterious  sanctity,  but  is  simply 
historical — being  the  very  same  that  is  applied 
to  the  genuineness  of  any  other  production. 
Why  do  we  receive  the  Commentaries  of  Csesar, 
and  the  Annals  of  Tacitus,  as  the  works  of 
these  eminent  men  ?  Because  their  authorship 
is  asserted  by  the  general  voice  of  antiquity. 
They  are  quoted  as  the  authors  by  writers  who, 
from  their  honesty,  research,  and  proximity  to 
the  time  in  which  they  lived,  were  fully  quali- 
fied to  pronounce  judgment.  They  are  cited  by 
enemies,  and  proofs  of  genuineness  are  found  in 
every  page  of  the  writings  themselves.  We  all 
understand  such  appeals.  There  is  a  natural 
logic  in  the  breast  of  almost  every  man,  which  sel- 
dom fails  of  leading  to  the  right  conckision.  It 
is  true  that  the  evidence  is  not  in  the  strict  sense 
of  the  word  (in  the  mathematician's  sense)  de- 
monstrative :  but  it  is  the  same  that  guides  us 
in  all  matters  of  fact  and  common  life.     How 


72  CANON    OF    THE 

do  we  know  the  trutli  of  any  thing  that  is  nar- 
rated to  us,  which  we  did  not  observe  person- 
ally ?  Why  do  we  believe  that  there  was  an 
ancient  city  called  Nineveh,  or  that  the  English 
John  signed  the  Magna  Charta  ?  Can  they  be 
proved  by  diagrams,  or  evolved  from  an  equa- 
tion ?  Can  it  be  shown  that  their  denial  con- 
tradicts some  necessary  or  immutable  truth  ? 
Yet  who  refuses  to  admit  them  ?  and  what  name 
would  we  give  a  man  who,  because  their  evi- 
dence belongs  to  the  kind  which  logicians  call 
probabilitij^  plays  the  sceptic,  but  that  of  a  fool, 
better  qualified  for  Bedlam,  than  to  converse 
with  his  fellow-men  ? 

..."  To  all  this  we  assent  without  difficul- 
ty," some  may  reply,  "  We  are  quite  ready  to 
believe  without  Euclid  that  Thucydides  wrote 
the  history  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  and  Cicero 
the  orations  against  Verres.  But  when  works 
offer  themselves  to  our  attention  and  claim  our 
regard  as-  productions  of  men  divinely  inspired^  a 
much  heavier  draft  is  made  on  the  bank  of  faith. 
Far  weightier  proof  is  necessary  to  establish 
the  origination   of  miraculous  narratives  from 


NEW    TESTAMENT.  73 

the  men  who  professed  to  have  seen  the  facts, 
than  to  prove  that  a  relation  of  probable,  every- 
day occurrences,  is  truly  his  whose  name  it  bears." 
We  concede  the  perfect  fkirness  of  this  demand, 
provided  the  evidence  required  is  only  great- 
er in  decree,  not  different  in  kind.  Grod  might 
have  made  the  proofs  of  our  religion  more  over- 
powering than  the  evidence  of  mathematics 
itself:  he  might  have  uttered  them  in  thunder, 
and  written  them  with  a  pen  of  fire  in  the  skies. 
But  he  has  not  adopted  this  course,  as  he  de- 
signed our  present  state  to  be  imperfect  and 
probationary,  in  which  our  faculties  should  be 
called  forth  by  the  powerful  stimulus  of  neces- 
sity, our  principles  tried,  and  the  moral  charac- 
ter formed  for  eternity.  Now,  these  results 
could  not  be  attained  by  placing  us  in  the  noon- 
tide light  which  many  thoughtlessly  desire. 
Faith  would  cease  to  be  a  virtue  in  a  world  so 
constituted :  holiness  would  become  a  service  of 
compulsion,  and  man  a  slave.  Meanwhile,  if 
we  see  here  "  through  a  glass"  darkly,  it  is  our 
comfort  to  know  that  we  have  lio-ht  enouo;h  to 
direct  us,  if  we  faithfully  improve  it.     "  Men 


74  CANON    OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT. 

have  reason,"  says  tlie  sagacious  Locke,  "  to  be 
well  satisfied  with  what  God  has  done  for  them, 
since  he  has  given  whatever  is  necessary  for  con- 
venience of  life  and  information  of  virtue,  and 
has  put  within  their  reach  if  they  are  willing  to 
make  search,  to  which,  however,  he  will  not 
compel  them,  a  comfortable  provision  for  this 
life,  and  the  way  that  leads  to  a  better.  We 
shall  not  have  much  need  to  complain  of  the 
narrowness  of  our  minds,  if  we  will  employ 
them  about  what  may  be  of  use  to  us ;  and  it 
will  be  an  unpardonable  as  well  as  childish 
peevishness,  if  we  undervalue  the  advantages  of 
our  knowledge,  and  neglect  to  improve  it,  be- 
cause there  are  some  things  that  are  set  out  of 
its  reach." 

With  regard  to  the  subject  discussed,  our  brief 
examination  shows  with  what  little  reason,  want 
of  evidence  can  be  alleged.  It  is  indeed  of  the 
same  kind  with  that  of  productions  merely  hu- 
man. But  in  degree  it  is  far  more  ample  and 
satisfying  than  all  that  has  ever  been  advanced 
for  any  book  of  equal  antiquity. 


CHAPTER  11. 

CAiSrOI^    OF   THE    OLD   TEST'AMP:]S'T. 

§  l.—The  Proof. 

We  propose  to  arrive  at  our  conclusion  on 
this  important  subject,  by  a  shorter  route  tlian 
that  which  is  frequently  adopted.  The  Old 
Testament,  in  regard  both  to  its  genuineness 
and  canonical  authority,  shall  be  built  upon  the 
New  ;  and  as  believers  in  the  Son  of  God,  we 
feel  certain  that  it  is  a  foundation  strong  enough 
to  sustain  the  whole  edifice. 

It  is  not  said  that  this  volume  possesses  no 
independent  evidence — that  no  appeal  can  be 
made  to  national  tradition  ;  to  the  scrupulous 
care  with  which  the  Jews  guarded  their  sacred 
writings  ;  to  the  support  these  writings  receive 
from  the  traditions  of  other  nations ;  and  to 
their  internal  marks  of  genuineness.  It  does 
not  hang  thus  in  the  air.     But  this  is  asserted, 


76  CANON    OF    THE 

tliat  a  man  of  fair  mind,  whose  faculties  have 
been  sharpened  by  habits  of  critical  analysis, 
cannot  retire  from  such  an  investigation  with- 
out a  feeling  of  doubt  and  disa2:)pointment. 
The  main  argument,  that  from  national  tradi- 
tion, is  much  more  plausible  than  solid.  Dur- 
ing the  last  two  thousand  years,  indeed,  the 
Jews  have  exhibited  the  most  intense  devotion 
to  their  sacred  books :  it  has  been  and  still  is 
their  ruling  passion,  sometimes  even  rising  to 
maniacal  excitement,  as  could  easily  l^e  shown 
from  their  history.  This,  combined  with  the 
feet  that  during  almost  the  whole  of  the  period 
mentioned,  they  have  possessed  a  regular  body 
of  learned  men  who  watch  over  the  purity  of 
their  volume,  is  a  good  argument  for  its  exist- 
ence and  preservation  since  the  fourth  or  fifth 
century  preceding  the  birth  of  Christ.  But 
the  ]3hilo3ophical  inquirer  will  remind  us  that 
this  has  not  always  been  the  case.  The  ruling 
passion,  in  nations  as  in  men,  is  subject  to 
chano^e,  and  the  chano:e  is  so  astonishiusc  often- 
times,  that  the  subjects  of  it  hardly  retain  a 
single  feature  of  character  by  which  they  can 


Old    TESTAMENf.  77 

be  identified  with  what  they  were.  What  a 
contrast  between  the  old  Romail,  and  hi^  mod- 
ern descendants  ;  between  the  Mexican,  and  the 
Castilians  of  the  fifteenth  ceutnry  !  That  a  rev- 
olution equally  great  has  been  experienced  by 
the  Jews,  is  beyond  dispute.  Let  the  single 
example  suffice  of  their  return  during  their 
captivity  in  Babylon  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Divine  Unity,  which  they  have  maintained  ever 
since  with  a  fidelity  truly  admirable,  when  be- 
fore that  time,  their  love  of  idolatry  was  a  per- 
fect madness.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  disguise 
another  fact  bearing  yet  more  directly  on  the 
subject,  that  from  the  reign  of  Solomon  to  the 
dethronement  of  their  last  king  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, they  evinced  the  most  stupid  indiffer- 
ence to  their  religious  writings  as  well  as  institu- 
tions. Forgeries,  therefore,  might  easily  have 
f^aken  place.  If  the  small  literary  coterie  to 
^vVhom  tjie  people  blindly  submitted  in  every 
tiling  pei-tgrt^ing  to  learning  and  religion,  chose 
to  impose  upon  them  certain  myths,  fragments 
of  song,  and  annals  of  plden  time,  as  the  "  sacred 
^Ubrary  "  which  had  come  dpwn  from  their  re- 


78  CANON    OF    THE 

mote  ancestors,  there  was  positively  nothing  in 
the  character  of  the  nation  to  prevent  it.  Nor 
is  the  matter  helped  by  labored  efforts  to  dis- 
inter from  their  sepulchres  ancient  testimonies 
of  profane  w^riters  to  the  truth  of  scripture 
facts ;  such  as  the  Deluge,  the  existence  of 
Abraham,  the  Exodus  from  Egypt,  the  invasion 
of  Shishak,  the  Babylonian  captivity,  &c.  An 
accumulation  of  proof  that  they  contain  a  re- 
sjjectable  amount  of  historic  truth,  has  its  value  ; 
but  very  little  that  is  positive  in  a  controversy 
vv^ith  the  infidel,  who  is  quite  ready  to  concede 
all  we  ask  on  this  point,  and  a  good  deal  more. 
Supposing,  for  instance,  (to  give  a  strong  case,) 
that  an  investigation  of  Egyptian  hieroglyphics 
led  to  the  astounding  discovery  of  a  com]3lete 
identity  between  Egyptian  and  Jewish  annals 
from  the  Deluge  to  the  Babylonian  captivity, 
his  equanimity  would  not  be  in  the  least  dis- 
turbed. "  I  never  dreamt  (he  would  say)  that 
your  Bible  was  a  pure  lie.  The  thought  is 
absurd.  Allow  me  to  sift  out  its  miracles  and 
other  incredibilities  with  which  in  common  with 
other  ancient  history  it  is  stuffed,  and  I  will 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  79 

cheerfully  award  it  the  palm  of  superiority  to 
all  documents  of  the  kind  that  have  come  down 
to  us." 

These  are  only  specimens  of  the  numerous 
doubts  that  will  disturb  the  most  honest  mind 
in  view  of  the  difficulties  connected  with  an 
independent  demonstration  of  the  canonical  au- 
thority of  the  Old  Testament.  Let  us  be  thank- 
ful that  we  are  not  compelled  to  the  arduous 
task  of  encountering  them  ;  and  that  we  have 
a  ground  of  certainty  from  which  no  array  of 
learning  or  ingenuity  can  dislodge  us.  Let  us 
accept  with  gratitude  the  authoritative  dicta  of 
the  divine  Founder  of  Christianity,  and  not 
blush  to  acknowledge  that  our  Bible,  our  whole 
Bible,  comes  from  his  sacred  hand  ! 

With  this  infallible  guidance,  the  enlightened 
Christian  feels  joerfectly  safe.  In  the  many 
questions  raised  by  unbelievers,  concerning  the 
possibility  of  introducing  spurious  writings  be- 
fore the  advent  of  the  great  teacher,  he  may 
take  a  strong  literary  and  historical,  Ijut  not  a 
great  religious  interest.  Their  "  Pseudo  Isaiahs," 
and  "  Pseudo  Daniels,"  will  not  disconcert  him 


80  CANON    OF    THE 

in  the  least.  Their  positions  he  believes  to  be 
false,  and  incapable  of  being  substantiated  by 
fair  argument ;  but  even  though  he  could  not 
prove  their  fallacy  by  positive  demonstration, 
he  has  all  that  is  needed  in  the  ''imprimaturs^ 
of  one  who  never  deceived  him,  and  on  whose 
perfect  truth  he  has  staked  his  immortality. 
The  man  who  has  given  his  soul  to  Christ,  can 
have  no  scruple  to  trust  him  with  settling  his 
rule  of  faith. 

OCJR    COLLECTION    APPROVED    BY   CHRIST.       TWO 
METHODS    OF    PROOF. 

What,  then,  is  the  testimony  of  our  Redeemer 
and  his  inspired  apostles  regarding  our  volume  ? 
Though  they  have  nowhere  given  a  formal  cata- 
logue, ample  information  can  be  obtained  from 
them  in  two  different  ways  : 

1st.  By  ascertaining  what  books  they  quote 
or  directly  refer  to  : 

2d.  By  inquiring  what  was  the  established 
Canon  of  the  Jews  at  the  time  they  lived ;  and 
whether  there  is  evidence  that  they  adopted  it. 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  81 

FIRST    METHOD  :    DIRECT    QUOTATIONS. 

1st.  This  point  shall  detain  us  but  a  moment. 
The  highly  satisfactory  statement  can  be  made 
at  once,  that  there  are  in  the  New  Testament 
distinct  references  to  all  the  hooks  of  the  Old — (to 
Genesis,  Exodus,  <fec.,  <fec.,)  except  Ruth,  Ezra, 
Esther,  Ecclesiastes,  Song  of  Solomon.  The  seal 
of  the  author  of  Christianity  is  thus  stamped 
upon  our  whole  collection,  with  the  exception 
of  four  or  five  books  ;  and  the  silence  concern- 
ing these  is  perfectly  natural.  There  was  no 
occasion  of  appealing  to  them :  indeed,  the 
wonder  is  that  so  small  a  book  as  the  New 
Testament  should  be  found  to  have  honored  its 
elder  sister  with  so  ma7iy  notices,  (256  direct 
citations,  and  283  references,)  not  that  a  few  of 
its  smaller  portions  should  be  passed  over. 
Equally  striking  is  the  fact,  that  with  one  or 
two  exceptions,  more  apparent  than  real,  no 
notice  is  taken  of  any  Apocryphal  books. 
"Whenever  a  quotation  is  made,  we  know  at 
once  where  to  find  it  in  the  Old  Volume. 
Cruden's  Concordance  will  direct  to  the  book 
the  chapter,  and  the  verse.  Such  are  the  results 
5 


82  CANON    OF   THE 

to  wMcli  we  are  led  by  the  first  metliod.  Sup- 
posing our  volume  to  consist  of  five  hundred 
pages,  we  may  say  that  four  hundred  and  ninety 
bear  the  legible  signature  of  the  incarnate  ^'  wis- 
dom of  God." 

SECOND   method:   chkist   adopted    the   estab- 
lished  CANON   OF   HIS   COUNTEYMEN. 

After  all,  the  evidence  is  not  perfect.  Some 
books,  as  we  have  observed,  are  passed  over. 
Is  it  not  possible,  then,  to  settle  the  question 
with  a  little  more  precision  ?  We  answer,  by 
calling  the  reader's  attention  to  the  2d  method — 
that  of  ascertaining  whether  the  Jews  had  an  es- 
tablished and  universally  recognized  collection  at 
the  time  of  our  Lordh  appearing^  and  whether 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  he  adopted  it. 

On  the  latter  point,  which  it  is  convenient  to 
dispose  of  first,  one  answer  only  can  be  given. 
Whatever  the  Jewish  collection  was,  Jesus  Christ 
most  certainly  approved  it.  We  repeat  the  as- 
sertion, and  with  emphasis :  Wliatever  the  Jew- 
ish collection  was,  Jesus  Christ  most  certainly 
approved  it.     He  did  so  by  his  uniform  practice 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  83 

of  appealing  to  tlie  same  books  wliich  they  made 
use  of,  and  attributing  to  tliem  tlie  same  Divine 
autliority,  without  ever  hinting  tliat  there  was 
the  least  discrepancy  between  their  views  and 
his  own.  None  can  charge  him  with  want  of 
moral  courage  in  administering  reproof.  How 
often  did  the  corrupt  Pharisees  writhe  under  the 
lash  of  his  cutting  denunciations !  Their  hypoc- 
risy and  pride,  their  savage  cruelty,  their  lust 
for  power  and  riches,  their  compassing  sea  and 
land  to  make  one  proselyte,  who  became  in  their 
hands  more  a  child  of  hell  than  before, — all  these, 
and  other  abominable  traits  of  character,  are 
painted  as  with  a  pencil  dipt  in  fire ;  so  that 
while  reading  his  discourses,  we  cease  to  wonder 
at  that  demoniac  fury  which  cried  in  the  ears 
of  the  Koman  Governor,  "Not  this  man,  but 
Barabbas ;  Crucify  him.  Crucify  him."  Now, 
is  it  likely  that  this  terrible  reprover  was  all  the 
while  conniving  at  a  crime,  towering  above  every 
other,  because  more  fatal  in  its  consequences — 
the  crime  of  adulterating  the  pure  fountain  of 
Divine  truth  ?  If  the  Jews  had  admitted  any 
spurious  or  apocryphal   books,   would  he  not 


84  CANON    OF   THE 

have  upbraided  them  with  it,  and  commanded 
his  apostles  to  rectify  the  abuse  ?  But  not  a 
hint  of  this  kind  is  dropped.  On  the  subject 
of  the  sacred  books,  both  he  and  his  disciples 
are  as  perfect  Jews  as  ever  trod  the  floor  of  a 
Synagogue.  "  Search  your  Scriptures,"  was  his 
habitual  language,  "for  these  are  they  which 
testify  of  me."  If,  after  this,  Christ  did  not  un- 
qualifiedly accept  the  canon  of  his  countrymen, 
the  conclusion  is  unavoidable:  he  was  an  arch 
hypocrite  and  an  impostor  ! 

THE   JEWISH    CANON    AGEEES    WITH    OUR    OWN. 

But  what  was  it  ?  And  where  shall  we  find 
it  ?  The  goodness  of  Divine  Providence,  which 
has  never  ceased  to  watch  over  the  Church,  en- 
ables us  to  give  a  solid  answer  to  these  ques- 
tions. We  have  the  testimony  of  learned,  honest, 
and  every  way  qualified  witnesses,  from  the  times 
of  our  Lord  himself,  that  a  collection  existed, 
and  that  it  was  the  same  with  that  which  we 
hold  in  our  hands. 

TP]STIMONY    OF    JOSEPHUS.       BORN    A.  D.  37. 

Let  us  hear,  in  the  first  place,  the  great  histo- 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  85 

riaii  of  the  Jewish  nation.  No  man  could  be 
more  favorably  situated  for  knowing  the  truth. 
He  was  born  about  the  time  when  our  Redeemer 
died,  and  was  therefore  a  contemporary  of  the 
Apostles.  He  was  a  priest,  and  must  have  been 
perfectly  at  home  in  the  Ecclesiastics  of  that 
ag-e ;  not  to  mention  that  he  had  constant  access 
to  the  temple,  where  an  authentic  copy  of  the 
Scriptures  was  deposited.  His  statement  is  the 
following : 

"  We  have  not  among  us  innumerable  books 
which  contradict  each  other;  but  only  twenty- 
two^  which  contain  the  history  of  all  past  time, 
and  are  justly  held  to  he  divine.  Five  of  these 
are  from  Moses :  they  contain  laws,  and  accounts 
of  the  human  race  from  its  creation  till  the  time 
of  his  death,  comprehending  a  period  of  three 
thousand  years.  From  the  death  of  Moses  to 
Artaxerxes,  who  after  Xerxes  reio^ned  over  the 
Persians,  the  prophets  who  lived  after  Moses 
have  related  in  thirteen  books  what  happened 
in  their  time.  The  other  four  books  contain 
hymns  to  God  and  rules  of  life  to  men.  Since 
Artaxerxes,  up  to  our  time,  everything  has  been 


86  CANON   OP   THE 

recorded ;  hut  tliese  writings  are  not  considered 
so  worthy  of  credit  as  those  written  earlier,  (i.  e., 
before  the  time  of  Artaxerxes,)  because  after 
that  time  there  was  no  resfular  succession  of 
prophets.  What  faith  we  attribute  to  our  Scrip- 
tures, is  manifest  in  our  conduct.  For  it  is  in- 
nate with  all  Jews,  to  hold  these  books  to  be 
the  word  of  God,  and  to  firmly  stand  by  them, 
nay  die,  if  necessary,  in  their  defence." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  in  this  remarkable 
passage  he  does  not  enumerate  the  books  more 
particularly.  But  we  know  perfectly  what  the 
number  "  twenty-two"  included.  It  was  an  ar- 
rangement universally  adopted;  and  from  the 
Talmud  and  early  Christian  writings,  we  discover 
that  it  comprised  all  the  writings  of  our  present 
canon.  Besides,  he  in  his  writings  actually 
quotes  from  them  all  excepting  Proverbs,  Ecclesi- 
astes,  Song  of  Solomon,  and  Job.  Mark,  also, 
the  judgment  he  pronounces  on  the  Hellenistic 
or  Hebrew  Greek  compositions,  which  are  now 
known  by  the  name  of  "Apocrypha;"  for  to 
them  he  undoubtedly  refers,  as  they  were  all, 
by    the    acknowledgment    of    their    warmest 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  87 

friends,  written  after  the  time  of  Artaxerxes. 
"They  are  not  of  equal  authority  with  those 
before  them." 

PHILO,  A.   D.    41,  ALSO    CONTEMPOEAEY    WITH   THE 
APOSTLES. 

Happily  we  have  another  Jewish  witness  who 
lived  at  the  same  time.  Philo  resided  in  Alex- 
andria, the  metropolis  of  Egypt.  Plis  testimo- 
ny is  most  decided  in  favor  of  our  present  canon. 
He  does  not  indeed  give  a  formal  catalogue,  but 
throws  out,  in  passing,  observations  which  clear- 
ly show  his  opinion.  The  only  books  of  which 
he  makes  no  use  are  Ruth,  Nehemiah,  Chron- 
icles, Esther,  and  Lamentations. 

That  he  was  acquainted  with  the  Apochryphal 
books,  Ecclesiasticus,  Baruch,  Tobit,  <fec.,  &c.,  is 
certain ;  for  he  borrows  phrases  from  them.  But 
not  in  a  single  instance  does  he  use  them  as  au- 
thority, or  even  quote  them.  This  fact  speaks 
volumes.  That  he  should  be  acquainted  with 
these  writings,  and  yet  studiously  avoid  appeal- 
ing to  them  when  he  wishes  to  establish  his 
opinions,  while   abounding  in  quotations  from 


»8  CANON    OF    THE 

the  others,  is  perfectly  inexplicable  on  every 
other  supposition  but  one,  viz. :  that  he  did  not 
rank  them  among  the  Scriptures  which  his  na- 
tion regarded  as  holy  and  divine. 

MELITO,  FLOUEISHED    CENTUEY    II. 

The  next  M^itness  we  cite  is  a  venerable  Chris- 
tian Bishop,  who  lived  fifty  or  sixty  years  after 
the  Apostles,  and  travelled  into  the  East  for  the 
express  purpose  of  ascertaining  from  the  Jews 
themselves  the  contents  and  number  of  their 
sacred  books.     He  thus  states  the  result. 

"  Melito  to  his  brother  Onesimus,  greeting : 
Whereas,  from  your  great  earnestness  for  the 
Word  you  have  often  wished  to  have  selections 
from  the  law  and  the  prophets  which  relate  to 
our  faith,  and  to  have  an  accurate  account  of 
the  ancient  books,  how  many  they  are  in  num- 
ber, and  what  is  their  order,  I  have  endeavored 
to  effect  this.  As  I  was  journeying  in  the  East 
I  came  to  the  place  wdiere  these  things  were 
clearly  exhibited,  (probably  one  of  the  Jewish 
colleges  of  theology,)  accurately  ascertained  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  send  you  a 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  89 

catalogue.  Tliey  are  called  as  follows,  Grenesis, 
Exodus,  Leviticus,"  &c.,  &c.  The  catalogue  need 
not  be  given,  as  it  is  precisely  the  same  with 
our  own,  excepting  that  the  two  smallest  por- 
tions, Nehemiah  and  Esther,  are  included  in 
Ezra,  to  which  they  stand  closely  related  in  their 
subject  matter.  Not  one  Apochryphal  book  is 
named. 

THE   TALMUD,  CENTURY    III. 

This  great  body  of  Jewish  traditional  law, 
which  represents  the  opinions  of  the  nation  at 
the  time  of  its  composition,  and  many  ages  pre- 
vious, gives  a  full  list  of  the  canonical  writings. 
After  dividing  them  into  three  general  classes, 
viz.,  "  the  Law",  the  Prophets,  and  the  Chetubim 
or  Miscellaneous  books,"  it  proceeds  to  name 
each  separately ;  and  the  list  is  precisely  that 
contained  in  the  first  page  of  our  Bibles.  It 
contains  not  a  trace  of  any  Apocryphal  writing. 

CONCLUSION. 

We  might  go  on  and  cite  the  enumerations  of 
Origen,  Jerome,  Athanasius,  Cyril,  and   others, 
living  Avithin  the  first  four  centuries.     But  it 
5* 


90  CANON    OF    THE 

would  be  a  wearisome  repetition ;  for  with  the 
exception  of  one  careless  blunder  of  Origen  they 
are  the  very  same,  and  agree  with  our  own.  They 
all  reject  the  Apochryj)hal  books,  which  Jerome 
expressly  names  for  the  purpose  of  excluding 
them.  "  Every  one  but  these  (he  says,  referring 
to  his  catalogue,)  is  to  be  placed  among  the 
Apocrypha."  Therefore,  the  "  Wisdom  of  Sol- 
omon," as  it  is  called,  "  The  book  of  Jesus,  the 
son  of  Sirach,  and  Judith,  and  Tobit,  are  not  in 
the  Canon^ 

We  close  with  saying,  that  if  any  truth  can 
be  established  by  evidence,  it  is,  that  during 
three  hundred  years  subsequent  to  the  birth  of 
Christ,  our  Old  Testament,  as  at  present  ac- 
knowledged by  all  except  the  church  of  Rome, 
was  universally  recognized  to  be  a  true  and  per- 
fect collection  of  the  divine  writino-s  of  the  an- 
cient  oeconomy.  The  evidence  possesses  a  com- 
pleteness of  which  not  many  historical  facts  so 
far  removed  from  us  in  time  can  boast.  It  is 
proved  also  by  arguments  which  cannot  be  re- 
sisted or  evaded,  that  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
endorsed  this  collection, — adopting  it   without 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  91 

addition  or  alteration.  Two  of  their  contempo- 
raries, Jews  by  birth  and  religion,  tell  us  what 
it  was,  and  theii*  testimony  is  sustained  in  every 
part  by  a  succession  of  pious  and  learned  men 
from  the  first  century  to  the  fourth.  If  any 
man  can  still  harbor  the  suspicion  that  the  Bible 
of  our  Redeemer  is  not  the  Bible  in  present  use 
by  Protestant  churches,  not  only  in  our  own  land 
but  throughout  the  world,  let  him  play  the  scep- 
tic on  all  matters  which  do  not  come  under  his 
personal  observation. 

APOCEYPHA. 

In  adducing  the  preceding  testimony,  frequent 
reference  has  been  made  to  certain  books  for  which 
a  claim  has  been  set  up  by  the  Catholic  church, 
but  which,  for  good  reasons,  Protestants  have 
branded  with  the  name  "  Apocryphal."  They  are 
ten  in  number,  viz.,  Baruch,  Ecclesiasticus,  Wis- 
dom of  Solomon,  Tobit,  Judith,  the  two  books  of 
Maccabees,  Additions  to  Esther,  Song  of  the 
three  Children,  Susannah,  Bell  and  the  Dragon. 
The  utter  vanity  of  their  pretensions  has  been 
shown  by  the  entire  silence  of  Christ  and  his 


92  CANON    OF    THE 

Apostles,  by  the  silence  of  Joseplius,  Philo,  and 
tlie  Talmud,  and  by  their  exclusion  from  the 
catalogues  of  all  the  Christian  fathers  of  the 
first  four  centuries.  All  this  seems  perfectly 
clear  and  decisive.  Yet  the  question  will  nat- 
urally occur  to  the  student,  how,  under  these 
circumstances,  they  obtained  such  currency 
among  Christians  as  to  make  any  claim  at  all ! 
We  shall  answer  this  inquiry  by  giving  in  a 
few  words  their  history. 

As  to  the  time  in  w^hich  they  "\vere  written, 
there  is  proof  on  every  page  that  they  belong 
to  the  latter  age  of  Jewish  literature,  which 
commenced  a  little  after  the  time  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  about  three  hundred  years  before  the 
advent  of  our  Lord.  In  consequence  of  various 
favorable  circumstances,  a  new  impulse  was 
given  at  this  period  to  Hebrew  genius;  and 
many  respectable  efforts  were  made  by  it,  in 
different  kinds  of  composition.  The  language 
employed  was,  in  Palestine,  the  Chaldaic  dia- 
lect :  but  the  principal  seat  of  this  literary  re- 
vival was  Alexandria,  in  Egypt.  In  that  im- 
mense city  the  Jews  were  so  numerous,  that, 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  93 

according  to  some  historians,  they  constituted 
nearly  half  of  the  whole  population.  All  these 
spoke  the  Greek  language,  and  adopted  to  some 
extent  the  Greek  manners,  from  which  circum- 
stance, they  received  the  name  of  "  Hellenists," 
or  Grecizers.  Having  become  somewhat  refined 
by  constant  intercourse  with  their  polished 
neighbors,  they  contracted,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  a  fondness  for  books,  and  writers  soon 
appeared  to  gratify  their  taste. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  "  Apocrypha.''  It  is 
nothing  more  or  less  than  the  remains  of  that  Hel- 
lenistic or  Jewish  Greek  literature,  which  flour- 
ished in  Alexandria  within  the  period  of  three 
hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  There 
is  not  the  least  reason  to  believe  that  the  Jews 
thought  of  comparing  them  to  Canonical  Scrip- 
tures. This  blunder  was  committed  by  Chris- 
tians, and  it  took  place  in  the  following  manner. 
In  the  third  century  before  Christ,  some  learned 
men  favored  their  countrymen  in  Alexandria 
with  a  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament, 
which,  from  the  supposed  number  of  its  authors, 
was  called  the  "  Septuagint,"  or  Version  of  the 


94  CANON    OF    THE 

Seventy.  It  was  cordially  welcomed:  Every 
Jew  would  have  a  copy,  and  for  convenience' 
sake  he  would  attach  to  it  the  writings  of  which 
we  are  giving  an  account,  that  he  might  have  a 
complete  religious  library  in  one  roll  or  volume. 
The  practice  was  not  without  its  advantages; 
and  in  the  case  of  the  Jews  themselves,  who 
well  knew  their  canon,  was  followed  by  no  bad 
consequences.  But  when  the  Septuagint,  thus 
crammed  with  foreign  matter,  came  into  the 
hands  of  Christians,  the  important  distinction 
between  divine  and  human  productions  was 
often  overlooked :  as  it  might  be  with  us  if  the 
custom  prevailed  of  binding  up  old  Bunyan's 
"  Pilgrim,"  or  any  other  such  pious  composition 
with  the  sacred  volume.  We  need  not  be  sur- 
prised, therefore,  if  even  a  good  Christian  Bishop 
is  sometimes  found  nodding,  and  quoting  his 
Bunyan  instead  of  his  Bible. 

In  this  state  things  remained  until  the  middle 
of  the  fourth  century, — the  catalogues  and  learned 
opinion  being  always  right,  while  the  practice 
was  occasionally  loose  and  wrong.  At  this  time 
the  first  symptom  appears  of  a  disposition  to 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  95 

give  them  a  place  in  the  Canon ;  which  was  ac- 
tually done  in  the  Council  of  Carthage,  A.  D. 
397.  After  this  they  met  with  general  accep- 
tance ;  which,  however,  will  excite  no  surprise 
in  those  who  are  acquainted  with  ecclesiastical 
history.  In  other  respects  beside  the  corruption 
of  her  rule  of  faith,  was  that  epoch  the  begin- 
ning of  sorrows  to  the  Church. 

Nothing  occurs  worthy  of  notice  concerning 
them  until  the  Reformation.  We  may  well  sup- 
pose that  the  men  who  led  the  vanguard  of  the 
great  army  of  witnesses  for  the  truth,  would 
inquire  with  no  little  anxiety  into  the  purity  of 
its  fountains ;  and  the  result  was  what  might 
have  been  expected.  They  discarded  the  Apoc- 
rypha, and  returned  to  the  good  old  Jewish 
canon  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles. 

§  2. — The  Religious  Value  of  the  Old  Testament. 

We  propose  to  offer  a  few  considerations  on 
the  value  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  part  of  our 
Christian  rule  of  faith.  There  are  many  who  do 
not  scruple  to  express  themselves  on  this  point, 
in  language  bordering  on  profaneness  ;  depriving 


96  CANON    OF    THE 

it  almost  of  every  claim  to  our  respect,  except 
as  a  venerable  reminiscence  of  antiquity.  Even 
among  persons  wlio  consider  themselves  decid- 
edly evangelical,  a  doubt  is  often  felt,  w^hether 
it  has  not  been  entirely  superseded  by  the  more 
brilliant  light  of  Christianity — and  whether  any 
great  injury  would  be  sustained,  if,  while  it  con- 
tinued to  be  employed  as  a  reading-book  in  the 
instruction  of  youth,  it  ceased  to  exert  authority 
over  the  conscience :  a  few  reflections,  therefore, 
on  the  unspeakable  value  and  importance  of  our 
volume  will  not  be  out  of  place. 

In  discussing  this  point,  we  do  not  feel  called 
to  institute  any  invidious  comparisons  between 
the  Old  Testament  and  the  New.  Rivalry  can 
have  no  place  between  two  oeconomies  which 
differ  only  as  to  the  degree  of  light  in  which 
the  same  blessed  plan  of  saving  mercy  has  been 
presented  to  mankind :  they  form  one  great  sys- 
tem, and  their  respective  books  are  in  the  most 
perfect  and  lovely  harmony  with  each  other.  As 
the  Old  Testament  cannot  say  to  the  New,  "  I 
have  no  need  of  thee,"  so  the  New  cannot  say 
to  the  Old,  "  I  have  no  need  of  thee."     Will  it 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  97 

be  objected  that  the  worth  and  necessity  of  the 
elder  revelation  are  impaired  by  the  fact,  that 
whatever  it  contains  of  primary  importance  is 
repeated  in  the  younger  ?  We  deny  the  asser- 
tion :  it  does  not  repeat  the  instructions  of  its 
predecessor,  but  assumes  them.  It  addresses  us 
as  if  they  were  our  old  and  familiar  acquaint- 
ances ;  and  proceeds  to  build  on  the  already 
half- built  edifice  what  is  peculiarly  its  own. 
Perhaps  the  proposition  we  are  about  enouncing 
may  sound  much  like  paradox, — but  we  are  cer- 
tain of  its  truth.  It  is,  that  the  New  Testament 
without  the  Old  is  as  imperfect  a  revelation  as 
the  Old  without  the  New.  What  immense 
masses  of  instruction,  the  most  interesting  and 
precious,  ai'e  contained  in  the  former,  without  a 
knowledge  of  which  it  is  impossible  to  under- 
stand the  latter ;  and  yet  which  the  latter 
scarcely  touches,  or  treats  only  in  the  way  of 
hint  and  allusion  !  This  thought  deserves  a  full 
illustration. 

DEPENDENCE  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  ON  THE  OLD. 

The  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Unity 
and  Spirituality  is  a  truth  which  faith  receives 


98  CANON    OF    THE 

on  the  authority  of  our  volume :  in  the  New  it 
is  rarely  stated,  though  of  course  always  recog- 
nized as  the  main  pillar  of  true  religion.  Why 
should  we  wonder  at  its  dearth  of  assertion 
when  the  most  ample  information  was  already 
imparted  to  the  world  ?  "  Hear,  O  Israel,  the 
Lord  thy  God  is  one  Jehovah,"  forms  the  cen- 
tral truth  of  the  ancient  oeconomy,  the  mainte- 
nance of  which  against  a  universal  deluge  of 
superstition  and  idolatry  is  represented  to  be 
one  principal  design  of  God's  separating  to  him- 
self a  peculiar  people.  Wonderful,  indeed,  it 
must  appear,  that  a  theology  so  l)eautiful  and 
pure,  so  sublime,  and  agreeable  to  all  the  prin- 
ciples of  reason,  as  that  which  adopts  as  its  cor- 
ner stone  the  divine  unity  and  immateriality, 
should  have  vanished  from  the  minds  of  men, 
and  given  place  to  a  foul  and  corrupting  polythe- 
ism !  But  such  was  the  fact.  Let  us  adore  the 
goodness  of  God  in  providing  a  remedy,  by 
lighting  up  at  so  early  a  period  the  lamp  of 
truth  on  the  sacred  hills  of  Palestine,  where  it 
shone  with  unceasing  radiance,  and  gradually 
enlarged  its  horizon,   until  it  was  lost  in  the 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  99 

more  dazzling  splendor  of  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness. 

To  the  same  source  we  must  betake  for  au- 
thentic information  concerning  the  creation  and 
origin  of  all  things :  here,  also,  the  New  Testa- 
ment points  back  to  its*  predecessor,  and  com- 
mits us  to  its  infallible  guidance.  The  light  of 
nature,  indeed,  when  uncorrupted,  is  able  to 
teach  us  that  the  fair  variety  of  things  around 
us  did  not  exist  from  eternity,  but  had  a  begin- 
ning. It  suggests,  however,  only  the  fact.  On 
the  mode,  time,  order,  with  all  the  other  cir- 
cumstances which  are  necessary  to  make  it  strike 
the  imagination  and  the  heart,  reason,  in  the 
maturity  of  her  powers,  maintains  a  sullen  si- 
lence. But  in  the  midst  of  the  general  darkness 
which  followed  the  apostacy,  even  the  fact  was 
forgotten :  the  Gentile  world  knew  as  little  of 
the  creative  power  of  God  as  his  unity  and 
spirituality.  The  vulgar,  blinded  by  their  po- 
ets, thought  that  tlie  work  was  eternal,  or  the 
work  of  chance ;  the  philosopher  either  acqui- 
esced in  the  absurdity,  or,  heating  his  brain  with 
fantastic  speculations,  gave  birth  to  absurdities 


100  CANON    OF    THE 

yet  more  monstrous.  It  was  necessary,  there- 
fore, that  a  voice  should  come  forth  from  the 
heavenly  sanctuary,  to  teach  us  that  "•  the  things 
which  are  seen  were  not  made  of  things  that 
do  appear."'  In  the  cosmogony  of  Moses  we 
have  every  thing  which  a  reasonable  curiosity 
could  desire  on  this  great  subject ;  and  the 
knowledge  is  communicated  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  purify  the  heart,  and  call  into  action  its 
best  affections.  Who  can  read  the  first  two 
chapters  of  Genesis  without  prostrating  himself 
before  that  great  Being  "  who  spoke,  and  it  was 
done — commanded,  and  it  stood  fast?"  and 
when  he  reads  of  the  ample  provision  made  for 
the  happiness  of  his  creatures,  Vv^ho  can  forbear 
exclaiming,  "O  Lord!  ho^v  manifold  are  thy 
works ;  in  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all ;  the 
earth  is  full  of  thy  riches  ?" 

In  the  next  place,  our  volume  satisfies  all  rea- 
sonable inquiries  concerning  the  original  condi- 
tion of.  wzff^^inquiries  which  are  not  formally 
answered  in  the  New  Testament  for  this  plain 
reason,  that  the  nee<l  of  it  is  superseded  by 
earlier  revelations.     On  this,  as  on  the  two  for- 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  101 

mer  topics,  reason,  unassisted  by  faith,  is  dumb. 
There  seem,  indeed,  to  have  survived  in  the  hu- 
man mind  some  faint  recollections  of  a  happier 
state  of  things  than  the  present,  of  which  the 
heathen  poets  made  a  charming  use  in  their  rep- 
resentations of  a  golden  age ;  but  these  were 
dreams, — fascinating  to  the  imagination, — reject- 
ed hj  the  understanding  as  baseless  chimeras. 
No  man  could  believe  on  the  testimony  of  pro- 
fessed dealers  in  fiction  a  hypothesis  so  entirely 
at  war  with  our  condition  ;  and  accordingly  we 
find  that  the  most  grovelling  ideas  concerning 
the  original  state  of  human  nature  prevailed 
among  the  heathen.  Man  was  the  child  of  fate, 
or  accident,  or  of  some  capricious  being  a  little 
superior  to  himself,  who  moulded  a  lump  of 
clay,  and  quickened  it  by  fire  stolen  from  heav- 
en. His  soul  was  a  finer  matter,  and  after  a  few 
years  both  it  and  its  grosser  vehicle  must  return 
to  earth,  and  be  dissolved  into  their  original 
elements. 

How  different  from  such  base-born,  brutal- 
izing speculations,  the  authentic  notices  of  our 
sacred  volume !     Man  is  the  immediate  work  of 


102  CANON    OF    THE 

that  all-wise  and  almighty  Being,  who  gives 
life  and  happiness  to  everything  that  lives  !  He 
was  formed  in  his  own  image,  spiritual,  intelli- 
gent, immortal.  A  high  and  glorious  destiny 
was  set  before  him ;  and  meanwhile,  until  the 
prize  should  be  won,  he  was  enthroned  vicarious 
monarch  of  creation  in  that  magnificent  grant : 
"  Let  him  have  dominion  over  fish  of  the  sea, 
and  fowl  of  the  air,  and  every  living  thing  that 
moveth  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  Such  was 
human  nature  when  it  first  appeared  among  the 
sons  of  God !  Blessed  be  his  name  for  a  vol- 
ume which  rescues  us  so  completely  from  all  be- 
littling views  of  our  original  character,  from 
the  self-contempt  which  observation  of  the  pres- 
ent state  of  things  is  apt  to  engender !  It  rec- 
onciles man  to  himself,  and  enables  him  to 
rejoice  that  he  is  a  man  ! 

In  the  next  place,  it  accounts  for  tlie  origin  of 
evil,  and  the  existence  of  depravity.  No  problem 
has  engaged  so  much  the  attention  of  inquiring 
men  as  this,  and  none  has  been  found  so  diffi- 
cult to  solve.  A  score  of  theories  mio^ht  be 
mentioned,  but  they  are  all  equally  unsatisfac- 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  103 

tory.  Nothing  has  ever  been  suggested  by 
human  wit  which  can  for  a  moment  stand  in 
comparison  with  the  account  of  our  venerable 
Scripture,  an  account  so  perfectly  rational  that 
the  keenest  intellect  finds  nothing  to  object,  and 
so  admirably  perspicuous  that  a  child  can  com- 
prehend it.  Man  was  originally  holy  and  hap- 
py, with  every  bias  in  favor  of  moral  rectitude ; 
but  yet,  for  wise  purposes,  left  to  the  freedom 
of  his  own  will !  He  was  fully  able  to  stand, 
yet  liable  to  fall !  Tempted  by  a  being  of  su- 
perior order,  he  yielded  to  animal  appetite,  and 
all  that  train  of  evils  succeeded  by  natural  and 
just  consequence  which  w^e  now"  deplore !  We 
do  not  say  that  this  solution  removes  all  the 
metaphysical  difficulties  w^hich  attend  the  ques- 
tion of  the  origin  of  evil,  ])ut  it  is  perfectly  sat- 
isfactory as  far  as  it  goes,  wdiile  it  administers 
the  most  instructive  and  solemn  lessons ! 

What  an  affecting  representation  also  does 
our  volume  give  of  the  extent  of  human  de- 
pravity !  That  the  doctrine  referred  to  is  con- 
tained in  the  New  Testament  cannot  be  doubted ; 
but  the  Old  is  the  proper  fountain  of  both  proof 


104  CANON    OF    THE 

and  illustration.  Here  it  is  stated,  with  an  en- 
ergy of  expression  which  must  impress  every 
serious  mind ;  here,  too,  it  is  proved,  by  the  most 
convincing  of  all  arguments, — history  and  facts. 
What  a  shocking  array  of  crime,  and  calamities 
the  fruit  of  crime,  passes  before  us,  when  we 
follow  the  sacred  narrative  from  its  opening 
scene  to  the  Babylonian  captivity !  How  soon 
did  violence  fill  the  earth,  and  iniquity  become 
so  rampant,  that  it  could  only  be  removed  by 
an  universal  deluge  !  After  the  flood  how  soon 
did  it  rea23pear,  so  that  God  was  prevented  from 
inflicting  a  second  catastrophe  only  by  the  prom- 
ise that  he  would  not  again  curse  the  earth  for 
man's  sake.  But  it  is  needless  to  enlarge ;  ev- 
ery page  is  a  commentary,  written  in  tears  and 
blood,  on  its  own  declaration,  that "  the  heart  is 
deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wick- 
ed." Some  have  complained  that  the  Old  Tes- 
tament should  abound  in  so  many  tragic  and 
revolting  details ;  but  they  forget  that  the  his- 
tory of  our  race  could  not  be  otherwise.  What 
is  man,  but  that  very  being  whom  the  Bible 
describes  ?     It  is  a  faithful  mirror  in  which  Ave 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  105 

see  our  own  character ;  if  the  image  be  foul,  let 
us  attribute  it  to  the  true  cause,  and  betake  to 
the  cleansing  fountaiu  of  divine  grace. 

The  doctrine  of  vicarious  atonement  is  another 
of  the  great  truths  contained  in  our  volume — 
which  the  New  Testament  assumes  rather  than 
teaches.  It  everywhere,  indeed,  represents  the 
Son  of  God  as  dying  in  the  character  of  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  guilty  ;  but  in  such  a  way  as  to 
indicate  that  its  reader  is  already  familiar  with 
the  idea.  Take  away  from  Scri23ture  that  por- 
tion which  teaches  the  origin  of  sacrifices,  and 
the  institution  of  them  as  the  basis  of  all  ac- 
ceptable worship  to  God,  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  you  inflict  on  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
by  the  Redeemer's  blood  a  mortal  wound.  The 
modern  adversaries  of  the  truth  feel  this.  They 
perceive  that  the  doctrine  of  vicarious  suffering 
pervades  the  Old  Testament  from  Genesis  to 
Malachi ;  that  to  deny  it  is  mockery  and  folly  : 
and  their  only  resource  is,  to  decry  these  pre- 
cious recoi'ds  as  crammed  with  Jewish  fable  and 
superstition :  a  precious  confession,  that  to  get 
6 


106  CANON    OF    THE 

rid  of   atonement  tliey  must  join  hands  witli 
tlie  ojien  infidel. 

Equally  valuable  are  its  teachings  respecting 
the  vital  doctrine  of  our  dependence  on  the  Holy 
Spirit.  No  truth  is  more  prominently  held 
forth  in  the  sublime  theology  of  the  Hel^reAvs 
than  this.  In  it,  God  is  all  in  all :  he  not  only 
moves  amidst  the  scenes  of  external  nature, 
riding  on  the  whirlwind,  sending  down  his  rain 
and  fruitful  seasons,  and  causing  the  grass  to 
grow  for  the  service  of  man,  but  he  is  ever 
present  with  the  souls  that  he  has  made.  The 
hearts  of  men  are  represented  as  being  in  his 
hand,  and  he  directs  them  like  livers  of  water. 
All  excellent  endowments  of  mind,  all  aspira- 
tions after  the  fair  and  good,  all  eminence  in 
wisdom,  political  virtue,  and  even  secular  art, 
are  ascribed  to  the  023eration  of  the  ever-acting, 
all-j)ervading  Ruah  Jehova !  When  we  open 
the  New  Testament,  therefore,  we  are  fully  pre- 
pared for  the  same  great  truth :  we  ai-e  not  sur- 
prised to  hear  that  every  good  and  perfect  gift 
cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights :  we 
are  not  surprised  at  being  told  that  "  unless  a 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  107 

man  be  boru  of  water  and  tlie  Spirit,  he  cannot 
enter  tlie  kingdom  of  God :"  nor  to  find  the 
great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  "  bowing  his 
knees  before  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  he  would  grant  us  according  to  the 
riches  of  his  glory,  to  be  strengthened  with 
might  l>y  his  spirit,  in  the  inner  man."  What 
a  comment  on  the  Master's  declaration  that  "  he 
came  not  to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets 
— that  he  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil !" 
With  what  exquisite  emotions  must  the  pious 
Jew  have  discovered  that  he  "in  whose  lips 
grace  was  poured,"  but  whom  he  had  susj^ected 
of  a  design  to  overturn  the  faith  of  patriarchs 
and  proj^hets,  proffered  to  his  acceptance  the 
same  old  religion  so  dear  to  his  heart,  only 
purged  from  its  defects,  and  expanded  into  the 
perfection  of  beauty  !  Such,  we  may  suj^pose, 
was  the  state  of  mind  expressed  by  Andrew, 
when  he  shouted  that  memorable  declaration  to 
his  brother,  Simon  Peter,  "  We  have  found  the 
Messias."  The  discovery  merited  a  shout :  it 
was  a  £VQ7jyia,  compared  with  which,  that  of 
the  illustrious  Sicilian  sage  was  but  an  infant's 


108  CANON    OF    THE 

babble:    tvq7jy.a^tv  toj/  X^tiotov  •,    "we  have 

EOUND — THE  CHEIST  !" 

OLD    TESTAMENT    PIETY. 

But  a  question  here  suggests  itself,  A^^llicll  even 
to  well  disposed  and  candid  minds  seems  not  a 
little  perplexing.  If  the  Old  Testament  be  so 
rich  in  the  vital  and  fundamental  truths  of  our 
religion,  how  can  the  fact  be  explained  that  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  always  represent 
the  Mosaic  institute  to  be  a  hard  and  hurden- 
some  service,  which  the  people  were  scarcely 
able  to  bear  ?  It  consisted  in  bloody  sacrifices, 
oblations,  and  complicated  external  observances, 
which  "  could  not  make  him  that  did  the  ser- 
vice perfect,  as  pertaining  to  tlie  conscience ;" 
and  the  writer  to  the  Hebrews  distinctly  in- 
forms us  that  it  was  abrogated  on  account  of 
its  "  weakness  and  unprofitableness."  As  much 
of  the  prejudice  concerning  our  volume  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made,  is  based  on  this  view 
of  the  subject,  we  shall  bestow  on  it  a  few  re- 
marks. 

The   whole   diflSculty  originates   in  a  gross 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  109 

misconception  of  the  nature  of  the  ancient 
oeconomy.  That  the  system  which  Moses  by 
divine  dii'ection  imposed  upon  the  people,  for 
special  and  temporary  ends,  had  the  character 
just  described,  is  true — and  that  the  piety  which 
this  system,  left  to  its  native  workings,  would 
generate,  is  very  different  from  that  produced 
by  the  operation  of  a  pure  Christianity,  is  equally 
so :  but  they  who  think  that  the  members  of 
the  old  Mosaic  theocracy  were  restricted  to  the 
former,  look  only  on  the  surface  of  things. 
They  forget,  or  do  not  understand,  that  long 
before  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  organization 
by  Moses,  they  had  been  placed  under  another 
dispensation  of  a  very  different  nature — that  of 
faith,  of  humble  trust  in  the  forgiving  mercy  of 
God,  evincing  itself  by  love,  self-consecration, 
and  holy  obedience.  The  promise  given  to 
their  father,  Abraham,  had  a  double  aspect. 
It  pledged  the  divine  veracity,  that  a  numerous 
posterity  should  issue  from  him,  who  should 
possess  the  land  of  Canaan:  but  beside  this, 
was  the  promise  of  higher  blessings,  and  a  more 
glorious  seed;  through  whom  they  should  be 


110  CANON    OF   THE 

secured,  not  only  to  him  personally,  but  to  all 
of  every  nation  who  would  be  partakers  of  his 
faith.  This  constitution,  the  Apostle,  in  Gala- 
tians  iii.  17,  tells  us,  "  the  law  which  was  four 
hundred  years  after,  could  not  annul  nor  con- 
travene, so  as  to  render  the  promise  of  no 
effect."  Here  was  the  relio-ion  under  whose 
purifying  influences  that  holy  man  "  walked,  as 
seeing  him  who  is  invisible,  kept  himself  un- 
spotted from  the  world,  confessed  himself  a 
pilgrim  and  a  stranger,  and  looked  for  a  city 
that  has  foundations."  This  was  the  religion, 
too,  of  all  those  noble  spirits  of  whom  we  have 
so  glowing  a  description  in  the  eleventh  chapter 
of  the  Hebrews, — of  Isaac,  of  Jacob,  of  Joseph, 
of  Moses,  of  Gideon,  of  Samuel  and  the  proph- 
ets ;  who  "  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms, 
wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  of 
whom  the  world  w^as  not  worthy." 

If  we  want  to  know  the  name  and  nature  of 
this  religion  more  definitely,  the  Apostle,  in  his 
epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Galatians,  furnishes 
an  answer.  It  was  the  religion  of  the  Gospel — 
it  was  a  Christianity  before  Christ — differing  in 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  Ill 

none  of  its  essential  principles  from  that  whicli 
we  enjoy,  being  characterized,  as  already  said, 
by  the  same  reliance  on  the  grace  of  a  pardoning 
God — the  same  2:»eace  of  conscience — the  same 
fruits  of  holiness — and  hope  of  immortality. 
The  law  of  commandments  contained  in  ordi- 
nances, with  its  ritual  observances  and  temporal 
retributions,  was  a  constitution  superinduced  for 
certain  sj)ecial  purposes,  but  did  not  supersede 
nor  abrogate  it:  like  two  parallel  lines,  they 
ran  together  through  the  Avhole  oeconomy ;  never 
interfering  with  or  jostling  each  other ;  and  yet 
so  near  that  the  pious  servant  of  God  could  en- 
joy the  advantages  of  both,  while  the  earthly 
mind  saw  only  the  earthly.  As  an  Israelite  of 
the  natural  stock  of  Abraham — in  other  words, 
as  a  member  of  the  visible  theocracy — he  had 
his  duties  to  perform,  and  did  perform  them. 
He  walked  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Lord  Ijlameless,  performed  his 
ablutions  at  the  proper  time  and  place,  was 
ready  on  every  proper  occasion,  with  his  sin, 
trespass,  and  burnt-offering,  paid  his  tithes  to 
the  last  farthing,  gazed  reverently  at  the  nation's 


112  CANON    OF    THE 

pontiff,  while  presiding  over  the  nation's  forms 
of  worship, — yet  as  a  man^  a  partaker  of  Abra- 
ham's faith  and  exalted  hopes  of  a  spiritual 
redemption,  he  knew  that  he  had  "  a  more  ex- 
cellent way ;"  and  gladly  retired  from  the  garish 
scene  to  some  lonely  spot,  where,  undisturbed 
by  the  lowing  of  cattle,  or  the  clash  of  sacrificial 
knives,  he  could  pour  out  his  soul  to  Abraham's 
God ;  the  God  who,  not  on  this  mountain  nor 
on  that,  but  everywhere  through  the  great  ca- 
thedral of  his  universe,  is  worshipped  by  the 
pure  spirit !  Hence  the  observation  of  our  pious 
Puritan  divines,  that  believers  of  the  old  cove- 
nant "  lived  under  the  law,  but  did  not  live  upon 
the  law,"  We  mistake  the  matter  entirely, 
when  in  trying  to  form  a  distinct  conception  of 
the  religion  of  God's  ancient  church,  we  call  up 
the  temple,  with  its  marble  courts,  its  stately 
porticos,  and  thousand  priests  standing  in  robes 
of  white  round  the  brazen  altar  and  molten  sea. 
The  search  must  be  made  in  quite  another  direc- 
tion. We  must  visit  the  private  dwelling— steal, 
if  possible,  into  the  sacred  vtieqwiov,  or  chamber 
of  retu'ement  on  the   house-top,  where  David 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  113 

panted  as  the  "hart  after  the  water-brooks," 
where  Daniel  "  sought  the  Lord  by  prayer  and 
supplication  with  sackcloth  and  ashes,"  where 
Isaiah  mingled  with  the  seraphim  before  the 
great  "high  throne" — or  we  must  get  to  the  top 
of  Horeb,  where  Elijah  talked  mournfully  with 
God  over  the  abounding  wickedness  of  his 
people ! 

In  perfect  agreement  with  this,  is  a  fact  which 
cannot  escape  the  careful  reader  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, and  is  an  extremely  interesting  one ;  viz., 
that  in  all  those  portions  which  exhibit  the  inte- 
I'ior  religious  life  of  the  people,  there  is  scarcely 
an  allusion  to  Levitical  peculiarities:  it  would 
seem,  that  the  moment  a  pious  soul  felt  itself 
alone  with  God,  it  shook  off  everything  low  and 
terrestrial  which  belonged  to  that  dispensation 
of  forms,  forgot  even  the  Jehova  between  the 
Cherubim,  and  soared  away  to  the  presence- 
chamber  of  the  upper  sanctuary.  Look  through 
the  Psalms  —  those  wonderful  compositions, 
which  the  infidel  himself,  if  possessing  one  grain 
of  taste  or  moral  discernment,  can  never  cease 
admiring  for  the  rational  and  enlightened  views, 
6* 


114  CANON    OF    THE 

as  well  as  pure  serapliic  devotion  that  breathes 
in  every  line :  is  it  speaking  too  strongly  to  say, 
that  did  we  not  know  from  other  sources  the 
existence  of  a  complicated  ritual  system  among 
the  people  by  whom  they  were  sung,  we  would 
not  believe  it ;  nay,  would  almost  doubt  its  pos- 
sibility ?     Nowhere  do  we  find  a  hint^  that  the 
least  importance  was  attached  to  priest,  altar,  or 
sacrifice,  except  so  far  as  they  were  institutions 
to  be  honored  for  the  sake  of  their  author.     It 
is  not  surprising,  then,  that  these  old  Psalms 
continue  to  be  the  principal  hymn-book  of  the 
church.  Though  mutilated  and  most  imperfectly 
represented  in  the  poetical  versions  she  employs, 
they  possess  a  chai'm  which  is  felt  and  acknowl- 
edged by  every  Christian  heart :  Cowper,  Watts, 
and  Montgomery  may  be  dear  to  her  ;  but  still 
more  dear  are  the  harpings  and  hallelujahs  of 
the  sweet  sin2:er  of  Israel ! 

To  some,  this  elevated  character  of  Old  Testa- 
ment piety,  blended  as  it  necessarily  was  in 
practice  with  so  many  ceremonial  services,  may 
seem  difficult  to  explain.  But  we  do  not  think 
so.     In  every  age  God  has  made  a  revelation 


OLD    TESTAMENT.  115 

of  himself  to  the  human  spirit :  and  when  he 
does  so,  the  first  discoveiy  it  makes  is,  that 
he  himself  is  spirit,  and  that  they  who  worship 
him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
The  divinely  illuminated  mind  needs  no  instruc- 
tion save  that  which  comes  from  the  depths  of 
its  own  consciousness,  that  the  way  of  acceptably 
ajDproaching  Him  is  not  by  thousands  of  rams 
and  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil.  Something 
very  different  is  required  to  satisfy  its  felt  needs, 
than  a  corporeal  and  local  piety — the  placing 
on  an  altar  the  fruits  of  the  earth  and  the  beasts 
of  the  field ;  as  if  he  who  fills  heaven  and  earth 
with  his  presence,  fed  on  lambs,  or  inhaled  with 
gratification  the  aroma  of  a  slaughtered  calf. 

Let  us  prize  then  the  heavenly  treasure 
which  has  been  committed  to  us,  and,  with  a 
deep  feeling  of  privilege  and  responsibility, 
make  ourselves  acquainted  with  its  contents. 
Love  to  the  Old  Testament  Scriptui-es  is  even  a 
test  of  Christian  character :  no  man  has  ever 
drunk  deep  into  the  spirit  of  Jesus  and  his 
Apostles,  who  does  not  with  joy  draw  water 
from  these  wells  of  salvation. 


PART  II. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


Heemetteutics  is  tlie  Science  of  Interpretation. 
Sacred  hermeneutics  has  for  its  object  tlae  holy 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
Exegesis  is  the  practical  application  of  the  Sci- 
ence. This  gives  us  the  laws — the  former,  exe- 
cutes them :  thus,  we  speak  of  the  Exegesis  of  a 
passage,  according  to  Hermeneutical  principles. 

Before,  however,  engaging  in  these  studies,  the 
conscientious  reader  of  Scripture  has  another 
work  to  perform — that  of  ascertaining  the  sound- 
7iess  of  his  volume.  Has  he  a  text  so  uncorrupted 
that  he  may  confidently  rely  on  it  as  a  founda- 
tion of  religious  belief?  Has  no  poison  been 
poured  into  the  fountain  ?  After  flowing  through 
so  many  countries,  and  being  in  constant  contact 
with  so  much  intellectual  and  moral  impurity 
during  the  long  period  of  three  thousand  years, 
does  it  send  forth  the  same  healino;  waters  as 


120  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

when  it  first  broke  fortli  ?  In  answering  these 
questions,  the  learned  assert  what  is  called  the 
Integrity  of  Scripture ;  and  a  thorough  examina- 
tion of  it  in  all  its  details  and  connections,  is 
called  its  Criticism. 

The  importance  of  this  science  can  hardly  be 
overrated.  Whether  the  Horace  and  Plutarch 
that  lie  on  our  tables  faithfully  represent  those 
distinguished  ancients,  is  a  question  of  small 
practical .  interest ;  and  an  argument  proving 
beyond  all  doul)t  that  every  second  page  was 
an  interpolation,  would  hardly  distress  us  so 
much  as  a  badly-prepared  breakfast.  But  the 
soundness  of  that  awful  document  which  con- 
tains the  title-deed  of  our  immortality,  must  be 
viewed  in  a  very  different  light.  No  reasonable 
doubt  should  exist  on  such  a  subject,  nor  any 
pains  be  spared  to  know  the  truth.  The  discus- 
sion does  not  however  belong  to  our  present 
undertaking,  though  it  may  receive  slight  notice 
before  the  close.  That  the  text  is  in  a  sound  state 
shall  be  assumed ;  and  we  offer  our  aid  to  the 
reader  at  the  point  of  commencing  his  duties  as 
an  interpreter. 


OBJECT    OF   INTERPRETATION.  121 

All  that  we  purpose  to  say  in  this  brief  trea- 
tise shall  be  arraus^ed  under  two  heads : 

I.  We  shall  lay  down  some  general  Maxims, 
useful  to  be  fixed  in  the  mind  as  a  preparation 
for  the  study ; 

II.  Give  rules  in  detail  ])y  which  the  young 
hermeneutist  should  be  guided. 


MAXIM    I. 

The  object  of  Interpretation  is  to  give  the  pre- 
cise thoughts  which  the  sacred  writer  iyitended  to 
express.  No  other  meaning  is  to  be  sought  but 
that  which  lies  in  the  words  themselves,  as  he 
employed  them :  in  all  cases  we  should  take  a 
sense  from  Scripture,  rather  than  bring  one  to  it. 
This  rule  is  fundamental :  and  yet  how  often  is 
it  violated  !  Some  will  allow  no  other  sense  but 
what  has  been  baptized  in  their  philosophy,  or 
abstract  notions  of  moral  fitness :  these,  in  read- 
ing the  Bible,  malce  one  as  they  go.  Thus  they 
nowhere  find  the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity,  or 
Original  Sin,  of  Atonement,  Justification   by 


122  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

Faitli,  or  Divine  Influence :  some  even  are  un- 
able to  discover  Miracles.  Hence  the  bloody 
violence  wliich  tliey  practise  on  everything  that 
comes  in  their  way.  A  Socinian  can  read  the 
fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  "without  perceiving 
any  trace  of  Vicarious  Suffering  ;  can  turn  tlie 
i)  ctQX'^]  in  the  beginning  of  John  into  the  "  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  dispensation,"  and 
refuses  to  the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Father, 
any  higher  diploma  than  that  of  an  accom- 
plished teacher  of  morals.  Nothing  is  too 
arbitrary  for  one  who  brings  the  word  of  God 
to  the  touchstone  of  his  own  speculative  opin- 
ions. To  such  a  man  it  is  no  revelation  at  all ; 
for  it  teaches  only  what  he  knows  already. 

Others  make  it  speak  invariably  according 
to  their  theological  systems.  When  they  sit 
down  to  interj^ret,  they  think  of  nothing  but 
what  they  call  the  "  Analogy  of  Faith  :"  if  the 
passage  be  explained  in  perfect  accordance  with 
this,  all  is  well,  and  cannot  be  better,  though 
Philology  sweat  at  every  pore.  The  Analogy 
of  Faith  is  within  certain  limits  exceedingly 
useful — but  it  has  been  carried  entirely  too  far, 


OBJECT    OF    INTERPRETATION.  123 

and  made  to  include  all  that  a  man  thinks  or 
guesses  at  on  the  subject  of  religion.  Undoubt- 
edly, there  are  certain  truths  in  the  Bible  which 
we  are  at  liberty  to  assume,  and  by  which  we 
may  reason  analogically  concerning  the  meaning 
of  dubious  passages.  Such  are  the  doctrines  of 
the  Unity  and  Perfections  of  Gocl,  Man's  Moral 
Accountability,  the  Fall,  Redemption  by  Grace, 
and  Divine  Influence.  Any  exposition  of  a 
text  contradicting  these,  we  may  put  down  at 
once  as  disagreeing  with  the  Analogy  of  Faith: 
the  rule  is  a  good  one,  and  applied  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  all  writers.  But  surely  we  have 
no  right  to  set  up  our  whole  system  of  religious 
belief,  including  the  minutest  of  our  sectarian 
peculiarities,  as  a  criterion  of  truth  !  This  is 
to  make  our  creed  expound  the  word  of  God, 
instead  of  lettins;  the  word  of  God  frame  our 
creed,  and  establishes  a  principle  as  arbitrary 
and  odious  as  that  of  the  Socinian.  Our  ordi- 
nary commentaries  are  greatly  disfigured  with 
the  fault  just  mentioned — being  rather  dogmati- 
cal paraphrases,  than  expositions  of  Scriptiu'e 
itself.      In  few  do  we  discover  an  unfettered 


124  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

and  liberal  spirit:  the  Romanist,  Lutheran,  or 
Calvinist,  peeping  out  at  the  end  of  every  line. 
The  injury  which  sacred  interpretation  has  re- 
ceived from  this  source  (artificial  systems  and 
creeds)  cannot  be  calculated.  Compared  with 
the  toils  of  philological  investigation,  they  are 
so  easy  to  learn,  the  occupation  of  sitting  be- 
neath the  instructions  of  an  able  and  eloquent 
polemic  is  so  agreeable,  and  the  preparation 
thus  obtained  for  the  exercises  of  the  pulpit  is 
so  immediate  and  palpable,  that  flesh  and  blood 
can  hardly  resist  the  temptation  to  elevate  them 
above  their  proper  level.  The  student  giving 
himself  to  them  exclusively  with  all  the  ardor 
of  his  age,  is  not  conscious  that  in  consequence 
of  his  abuse  of  them,  they  are  leading  him 
7'ight  away  from  his  Bible  !  But  it  is  often 
really  so :  its  direct  rays  seldom  reach  him ;  the 
few  scattered  beams  which  strike  his  vision, 
being  refracted  and  distorted  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  by  the  very  imperfect  medium 
through  which  he  regards  them.  This  is  not 
the  fault  of  his  teacher,  whose  exhibition  of 
texts  may  be  copious  and  appropriate ;  but  the 


OBJECT    OF    INTERPRETATION.  125 

effect  of  Ms  own  indolence,  whicli  dispenses 
with  the  labor  of  critical  examination.  The 
dream  is  certain  and  the  interpretation  sure, 
without  betaking  to  his  dictionary  and  gram 
mar :  the  whole  process  of  explaining  the  most 
obscure  and  diifficult  passage  in  the  word  of 
God,  is  to  observe  the  place  which  it  occupies 
in  his  Turretine^  and  lo  ! — the  desert  smiles. 

How  weak  such  persons  must  1)e  in  every 
thing  relating  to  the  exposition  of  Scripture, 
we  need  not  say.  What  is  still  worse,  how- 
ever, they  contract  a  positive  dislike  to  the 
business.  It  is  foreign  to  all  their  acquired 
hal)its  and  modes  of  thinkius;:  it  demands 
qualifications  to  which  they  are  strangers,  and 
would  compel  them  to  sacrifice  many  darling 
conceits,  which  enjoy  in  their  minds  the  undis- 
puted dignity  of  axioms.  There  is  no  humanly 
constructed  creed  of  any  length,  which  does 
not  exhibit  partial  and  contracted  views.  The 
truths  of  Scripture  are  not  capal^le  of  exact 
scientific  definition :  they  are  the  ideas  of  the 
Divine  Mind ;  and  like  that  Mind  possess  a 
certain  boundlessness  which  disdains  to  be  cramped 


126  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

by  artificial  moulds — resembling  the  sublime 
and  beautiful  in  nature,  whicli  awaken  senti- 
ment and  interest  tlie  affections,  but  are  of  too 
delicate  a  texture  to  be  compressed  into  scholastic 
arrangements.  Accordingly,  we  find  the  sacred 
writers  never  attempting  to  give  a  precise  dia- 
lectic form  to  their  statements.  The  noble  and 
affecting  thoughts  with  which  they  are  pene- 
trated undergo  no  pruning  process,  nor  are  they 
subjected  to  metaphysical  analysis:  they  are 
not  drawn  out  into  regular  proj^ositions,  but 
are  poured  forth  with  the  same  divine  negli- 
gence with  which  they  presented  themselves  to 
their  spiritually  enlightened  minds.  Nothing 
indeed  is  more  remarkable  than  the  artlessness 
— the  charming  and  yet  suljlime  simplicity  which 
characterize  these  holy  men.  When  they  have 
a  truth  to  announce,  there  is  no  indication  of 
holding  back  in  order  to  give  it  with  philosophi- 
cal exactness — no  betrayal  of  a  fear  that  unless 
infinite  care  be  taken,  it  will  not  dovetail  with 
some  other  truth  that  has  been  announced  ^ve- 
viously ;  giving  a  writer  tlie  apj^earance  of  a 
man  treading  among  pit-falls  and  spring-guns 


EXPLAINED    LIKE    ANY    OTHER    BOOK.        127 

Tliey  walk  with  a  bold  freedom,  of  wliicli  every 
movement  proves  their  consciousness ;  shoving 
aside  in  their  onward  march  the  whole  troop 
of  collaterals,  trampling  on  contradictions,  and 
anxious  only  to  express  themselves  on  the  sub- 
ject immediately  before  them  with  appropriate 
energy.  The  man  who  undertakes  to  interj)ret 
them,  must  catch  their  spirit  in  this  respect,  or 
they  will  receive  small  justice  at  his  hands. 


MAXIM    II 


The  same  method  must  be  followed  in  expound- 
ing Scrijyture,  which  we  employ  in  searching  out 
the  mea?iing  of  other  hooks.  It  was  indited  to 
men  ;  it  speaks  to  men  in  the  language  of  men  ; 
and  was  understood  by  those  to  whom  in  an- 
cient times  it  was  addressed,  as  they  under- 
stood any  other  communication.  The  design 
of  God  in  giving  it,  was  to  communicate  cer- 
tain ideas — in  order  to  which  he  must  speak  to 
us  just  as  do  others.  Words  call  up  ideas,  not 
by  any  native  significance,  but  by  compact,  and 


128  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

every  one  in  speaking  is  supposed  to  conform 
to  tlie  bargain.  If  lie  does  not,  hut  employs 
language  in  a  sense  different  from  that  estab- 
lished by  common  use,  he  is  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  a  covenant  breaker.  In  reading  Scrip- 
ture, therefore,  we  are  to  use  the  same  appli- 
ances and  aids  employed  in  other  cases.  In- 
spiration gives  it  no  special  privileges :  rather 
may  we  suppose,  that  a  revelation  of  God's  will 
to  the  great  world  of  mankind,  must  be  pecu- 
liarly susceptible  of  popular  interpretation,  and 
positively  require  it.  This  rule  sweeps  away 
at  once  a  host  of  errors  :  we  shall  specify  two. 

1st.  That  of  the  Papists,  who  contend  that 
the  Exposition  of  Scripture  is  entirely  sui  gen- 
eris, and  supernatural  —  Toeing  committed  to 
Holy  Mother  Church,  consisting  of  the  Pope, 
Decrees  of  Councils,  and  the  ancient  Fathers. 
The  pretension  is  rejected  by  all  sound  Protes- 
tants with  disgust.  While  we  say  that  the 
Bible  is  the  Book  of  God,  we  affirm  with  equal 
emphasis,  that  it  is  the  Book  of  Man,  and  can 
be  understood  by  man  in  the  use  of  the  ordi- 
nary means.     We  also  affirm  that  Holy  Mother, 


EXPLAINED  LIKE  ANY  OTHER  BOOK.    129 

witli  lier  Councils  and  Fatliers,  has  given  too 
many  proofs  of  sometliing  worse  than  mere  fal- 
libility, to  be  entrusted  with  the  authoritative 
exposition  of  it.  The  Patristic  interpretations 
of  Scrij^ture  are,  with  a  few  exceptions,  con- 
temptible. Jerome,  Theodoret,  and  Chrysos- 
tom,  are  all  that  a  modern  can  quote,  and  ab- 
surdities of  every  kind  are  found  even  in  them: 
they  w^ere  all  ignorant  of  Hebrew,  except  Je- 
rome, and  the  later  Fathers  knew  little  of  Greek. 
When  they  used  citations  in  controversy,  they 
took  anything  (as  Jerome  himself  acknowl- 
edges) which  seemed  likely  to  confound  their 
opponents ;  and  there  was  scarcely  one  who 
did  not  prefer  an  allegorical  explanation,  or 
some  frigid  and  far-fetched  conceit,  to  the  j^lain 
sense  of  a  passage. 

2dly.  The  errors  of  Fanatics  and  Enthusiasts : 
such  as  Quakers,  and  Swedenborgians,  who 
boast  of  certain  immediate  revelations,  which 
they  call  the  "  Word  of  God  within.'"'  This  in- 
terior light  is  the  supreme  rule  which  entirely 
dispenses  with  every  thing  else,  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  languages,  philosophy,  logic,  and  com- 
7 


130  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

mou  sense.  With  it  every  shoe-black  is  abun- 
dantly qualified  to  expound  all  mysteries;  with- 
out it,  "all  the  learning  in  the  world,"  says  the 
famous  Barclay,  "  will  only  make  light  darkness, 
and  turn  the  truth  into  a  lie."  How  the  Bible 
fares  in  such  hands  their  writings  show.  Yet 
it  would  be  folly  to  reason  with  such  people. 
They  are  above  reason :  theirs  is  the  little  Go- 
shen where  all  true  light  is  found  ;  darkness 
blacker  than  that  of  Egypt  covers  the  whole 
world  without. 


MAXIM    III. 

The  se?ise  of  Scriptwe  is  (in  general)  one  :  in 
other  words,  we  are  not  to  assign  many  meanings 
to  a  passage.  Words,  indeed,  have  a  variety  of 
significations,  but  they  cannot  have  this  variety 
at  the  same  time.  A  single  sense  must  be  cho- 
sen, in  doing  which  one  expositor  may  differ 
from  another,  and  it  may  be  dubious  which  is 
right.  They  cannot,  however,  be  hath  right  : 
if  we  approve  the  one,  we  must,  if  they  really 
differ,  disapprove  the  other. 


THE    SENSE   IS    "  ONE."  131 

The  transgressors  of  this  rule  are  the  Mystics 
and  Allefforists.  Their  fundamental  maxim  is 
not  unlike  that  of  the  Papists ;  for  they  consid- 
er the  Bible  to  be  a  book  so  different  from  oth- 
ers, that  its  dej^th  of  meaning  can  never  be 
reached  by  the  ordinary  laws  of  interpretation. 
Being  from  God,  they  insist  that  it  must  in  all 
respects  be  worthy  of  him,  and  contain  a  rich- 
ness of  thou2:ht  suited  to  his  infinite  understand- 
ing.  Hence  their  favorite  maxim:  Verba  Scrip- 
turcE  tantum  uhique  significare,  quantum  signifi- 
care  jjossunt :  i.  e,,  whatever  a  word  matj  mean, 
it  does  mean.  A  single  noun  could  thus  have 
twenty  different  senses  in  the  same  place,  and 
refer  to  twenty  difterent  things.  This  odd  the- 
ory was  a  great  favorite  with  the  Jews  in  the 
time  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles,  who  occasion- 
ally allegorized  to  please  them,  though  by  no 
means  frequently.  See  an  instance  in  Gal.  iv. 
22,  where  the  Apostle  makes  Sarah  and  Hagar 
types  of  the  two  covenants.  So  far  did  the 
Jews  carry  their  love  of  it,  that  their  rabbis  all 
maintained,  "  There  is  not  a  letter  in  Scripture, 
or  apex  of  a  letter,  which   does   not  contain 


132  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

whole  mountains  of  meaning."  They  even  had 
a  science  or  art,  called  the  Caballa,  which  by 
changing,  disjoining,  or  transposing  letters,  or 
by  calculating  their  value  as  arithmetical  signs, 
elicited  worlds  of  profound  mystery. 

The  Jews  communicated  their  mania  to  the 
old  Christian  fathers,  whose  writings  abound  in 
mystical  expositions  of  all  kinds.  Everything 
in  sacred  history  was  metamorphosed  into  type 
and  symbol.  Origen  denied  even  the  literal 
truth  of  history,  contending  that  its  whole  and 
only  meaning  was  allegorical.  Thus  ho  pro- 
nounced it  absolutely  absurd  to  suppose  that 
the  world  was  created  in  six  days :  the  creation 
signified  the  renovation  of  the  soul  by  the  Gos- 
pel, and  the  six  days  intimate  that  it  is  carried 
on  by  degrees.  Israel  in  Egypt  he  makes  to  be 
the  soul  living  in  error,  and  the  seven  plagues 
are  its  purgations  from  various  evil  habits — the 
frogs  denoting  loquacity,  the  flies  carnal  appe- 
tites, the  boils  pride  and  arrogance,  etc.  This 
mode  of  expounding  continued  through  the  dif- 
ferent ages  of  the  church,  and  has  been  formal- 
ly adopted  by  the  Papists,  who  recognize  three 


THE   SENSE    IS    "  ONE."  133 

different  senses  besides  the  literal,  viz.,  tlie  alle- 
gorical, tropological,  and  anagogical.  Nor  was 
it  put  down  by  tbe  reformation.  Cocceius,  a 
celebrated  Dutch  divine,  carried  it  almost  as  far 
as  Origen  did.  He  held  that  the  whole  of  the 
Old  Testament  was  an  anticipative  history  of 
the  Christian  church,  containing  a  full  recital  of 
every  thing  which  should  happen  to  the  end  of 
time.  Even  the  Lord's  Prayer  is  a  prophecy, 
and  its  six  parts  denote  six  great  epochs  in  his- 
tory. Every  good  man  in  the  Old  Testament  is 
a  type  of  Christ,  or  his  apostles ;  every  bad 
man,  of  the  devil,  or  the  unbelieving  Jews. 

Such  schemes  are  to  be  utterly  rejected.  They 
destroy  all  certainty  of  interpretation ;  taking 
the  ground  from  beneath  our  feet,  and  making 
Scripture  a  nose  of  wax  which  every  one  may 
twist  into  the  shape  that  pleases  him  best.  Thom- 
as Woolston,  a  celebrated  English  infidel,  at- 
tacked Christianity  itself  with  these  arms,  in- 
sisting that  the  narratives  of  Christ's  miracles 
were  not  designed  to  be  histories,  but  are  pure 
allegories.  Volney,  a  French  writer,  has  tui'ned 
the  evangelic  history  into  a  system  of  astrono- 


134  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

my — Christ  being  the  sun  and  moon,  and  the 
twelve  apostles  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac. 
Without  affirming  that  there  are  no  secondary 
senses  in  Scripture,  we  believe  that  (the  phrase 
being  properly  understood)  there  are  very  few. 
Generally  the  meaning  is,  as  in  other  books,  one, 
and  that  lies  near  the  surface.  Who  ever  heard 
of  a  man  in  common  conversation  attachins:  dif- 
ferent  significations  to  the  words  he  used,  unless 
indeed  he  was  playing  a  game  at  riddles,  or 
double  entendres? 


MAXIM   IV. 


The  interpretation  of  Scripture  requires  suit- 
able preparation.  The  languages  in  which  it 
is  written  are  strange, — difficult ;  and  both  are 
dead.  In  every  page  there  are  references  to 
times,  places,  transactions,  with  which  we  must 
be  well  acquainted.  The  history  of  the  world 
is  given,  with  a  few  breaks  and  interruptions, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  four  thousandth  year. 
Not  only  are  there  accounts  of  the  Hebrew  na- 
tion, but  of  many  othei's  with  whom  war  or 


SUITABLE    PREPARATION.  135 

peaceful  intercourse  brought  tliem  in  connec- 
tion—Syrians, Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Persians, 
Greeks,  Romans ;  cities,  lakes,  rivers,  hills,  val- 
leys, are  continually  mentioned.  So  are  natural 
productions,  as  plants,  trees,  precious  stones, 
animals.  Hence  arises  the  necessity  of  being 
well  acquainted,  with — 

1st.  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  also  the  cognate 
languages,  Chaldee  and  Latin. 

2d.  History,  civil  and  political,  especially  of 
the  Israelites,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  Assyiians, 
and  Greeks.  If  the  student  has  no  time  for  ex- 
tensive investisfation,  he  should  at  least  make 
himself  master  of  Josephus  and  Prideaux,  who 
are  accessible  to  all,  and  full  of  entertainment 
as  well  as  instruction. 

od.  Chronology,  which  ascertains  the  dates 
and  order  of  events.  There  is  great  uncertainty 
and  difficulty  in  this  science,  but  it  must  not  be 
neglected.  A  general  knowledge  of  its  princi- 
ples, and  a  clear  view  of  the  great  epochs  into 
which  sacred  and  profane  history  is  divided, 
with  an  ability  to  refer  every  important  trans- 
action to  its  proper  time,  is  indispensable.    Chro- 


136  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

nology  is  one  of  the  eyes  of  history.  The  other 
is — 

4th.  Geography.  That  of  Palestine  is  of  es- 
pecial moment,  for  obvious  reasons ;  but  that  of 
Egypt,  Iclumea,  Arabia,  and  Mesopotamia,  must 
not  be  passed  by. 

5th.  Customs  and  manners,  or  archaiology. 
These  exercise  a  mighty  influence  on  the  ideas 
of  a  peoj^le,  and  their  mode  of  expressing  them. 
There  is  in  Scripture  a  constant  allusion  to  He- 
brew usages,  and  nearly  all  its  tropes  are  bor- 
rowed ft'om  them,  in  connection  with  the  natural 
features  of  the  country. 

The  imjiortance  of  a  sound  acquaintance  with 
this  branch  of  knowledge,  and  also  the  last, 
(geography,)  cannot  be  too  deeply  impressed  on 
the  mind  of  the  student.  No  man  is  fit  to  ex- 
pound a  ];)aragraph  in  any  book  whatever,  unless 
he  can  bring  distinctly  before  his  mind  all  the 
usages  and  historical  facts,  all  the  circumstances 
of  time  and  place,  which  relate  to  the  subject 
treated.  This  is  necessary  even  to  understand 
it,  but  much  more  to  receive  those  strong  im- 
pressions which  excite  the  sensibility.     Every 


SUITABLE    PREPARATION.  137 

one  who  has  attended  to  the  laws  of  thought, 
knows  how  wonderfully  our  conceptions  are 
enlivened  by  association  with  local  scenes  and 
circumstances.  A  man  of  general  reading  may, 
at  his  fire-side,  call  up  pleasant  reminiscences  of 
Greece,  and  the  various  glorious  events  recorded 
in  her  history:  but  how  tame  his  thoughts, 
compared  with  those  which  j^ossess  the  accom- 
plished scholar  who  has  trod  her  soil,  and  seen 
all  that  remains  to  her,  or  by  the  constant  peru- 
sal of  her  writers,  has  made  himself  as  familiar 
with  every  hill  and  valley  as  if  he  had  seen 
them  with  his  bodily  eyes.  It  is  a  common  re- 
mark of  historians  concerning  the  Christians  of 
the  middle  ages,  that  their  devotion  was  aston- 
ishingly increased  by  a  pilgrimage  to  Holy  Land. 
The  most  lukewarm  usually  returned  full  of 
faith  and  fervor.  This  might  be  expected.  They 
had  gone  over  the  hallowed  ground,  and  were 
able  to  form  a  distinct  picture  of  it.  They  had 
walked  the  streets  of  the  city  which  their  Divine 
Saviour  had  honored  with  his  ministrations,  and 
trod  the  very  mount  on  which  he  had  been  lifted 
up  between  heaven  and  earth.     The  vivid  idea 


138  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

of  tlie  localities,  passed  by  an  easy  transition  to 
all  the  facts  and  doctrines  connected  with  them, 
and  the  felt  reality  of  Calvary,  diffused  itself 
over  the  sufferings  which  a  thousand  years  before 
had  been  endured  there.  In  a  word,  the  sensi- 
ble ideas  of  time  and  place  became  so  incorpo- 
rated with  their  religious  belief,  as  to  form  one 
complex  whole — and  they  thought  as  little  of 
questioning  the  truth  of  their  creed  as  the  reality 
of  their  perceptions. 

It  is  true  that  few  of  us  may  be  able  to  test 
the  principle  just  stated  by  visiting  the  sacred 
land  in  person.  Much,  however,  can  be  effected 
by  a  thorough  course  of  reading.  Let  the  stu- 
dent take  into  his  hand  "  Jahn's  Archaeology," 
with  an  Ancient  Geography  and  Atlas,  studying 
at  the  same  time  Kobinson's  "  Biblical  Re- 
searches," he  will  be  surprised  to  find  what  a 
vivifying  and  warming  influence  they  will  exert, 
not  only  over  his  imagination,  but  his  heart. 
The  simplest  narrative  of  Scripture  will  be  read 
with  an  enthusiastic  interest,  of  which  he  had 
previously  no  conceptions ;  and  even  its  doctrines 
be  clothed  with  a  new  attractiveness. 


SUITABLE    PREPARATION.  139 

6tli.  Logic  and  general  literature ;  wliich  in- 
vigorate the  mind,  and  inure  to  habits  of  accu- 
rate discrimination.  Every  study  that  improves 
the  thinking  faculties — especially  the  judgment, 
and  enlarges  our  mental  horizon,  will  make  its 
value  felt  in  explaining  the  word  of  God.  What 
blunders  have  been  committed  by  commenta- 
tors, simply  because  they  did  not  know  that 
they  were  reading  poetry ;  and  who  would  not 
have  been  benefited  by  the  discovery,  as  they 
knew  nothing  of  the  laws  of  that  kind  of  com- 
position— theii'  whole  reading  having  been  con- 
fined to  the  mellifluous  jingle  of  Dr.  Watts! 
The  remark  of  Cicero  concerning  the  orator  is 
quite  as  true  of  the  sacred  interpreter :  "  Quod 
debet  omnibus  disciplinis  instructus  esse."  Let 
no  student  of  theology  allow  himself  to  think 
that  when  he  occasionally,  or  even  frequently, 
opens  the  page  of  a  Milton  or  a  Locke,  he  is 
wasting  time  or  stealing  it  away  from  his  proper 
work. 

Tth.  Above  all,  sincere  and  ardent  piety. 
Without  this,  no  leai'ning  and  acuteness  will 
secure  the  interpreter  from  shamefully  blunder- 


140  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

ing  ou  the  very  threshold  of  his  undertaking, 
nor  from  a  constant  succession  of  bhmders  to 
the  end.  His  heart  must  be  attuned  to  his 
sacred  employment  by  a  profound  conviction  of 
ignorance  and  guilt,  by  sincere  love  to  God,  and 
a  devout  longing  toward  everything  that  is  holy 
and  divine :  by  willingness  to  put  himself  abso- 
lutely and  without  reserve  at  the  feet  of  his 
great  teacher;  in  short,  by  such  a  sympathy 
between  his  spirit  and  the  spirit  of  Christ,  that 
he  can  enter  into  the  very  thoughts  of  Christ, 
and  exj)ound  them  by  a  sort  of  divine  intuition. 
There  is  a  deep  philosophy,  (ignorance  of  which 
is  the  rock  on  which  many  interpreters  have 
made  shipwreck,)  in  the  promise :  "  I  will  put 
my  laws  in  their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their 
hearts,  and  they  shall  not  teach  every  man  his 
neighbor,  saying,  know  the  Lord  ;  for  all  shall 
know  me  from  the  least  to  the  greatest."  The 
meaning  is  not  that  under  the  new  and  spiritual 
dispensation  of  the  Gospel  to  which  the  promise 
refers,  external  methods  of  instruction  will  be 
done  away ;  but  that  it  will  be  no  more  a  hard^ 
up-hill  work,— as  it  always  is  when  the  hearts  of 


SUITABLE    PREPARATION.  141 

men  are  not  in  harmony  with  their  employment. 
In  consequence  of  the  holy  congeniality  of  the 
inner  man  with  the  objective  revelation,  the 
latter  will  be  received  with  such  ardent,  whole- 
souled  affection  at  the  very  moment  of  being 
presented,  that  the  outward  teaching  will  be 
scarcely  remembered. 

Illustrations  of  this  are  found  all  around :  let 
one  example  serve.  How  slow  to  learn  is  the 
boy  whose  tastes  and  inclinations  have  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  object  of  his  study  !  Like  the 
ass,  he  needs  a  constant  whip  to  maintain  a  faint 
appearance  of  locomotion :  even  the  tender,  all- 
hoping  mother  has  ceased  to  plead  for  him,  and 
concurs  in  the  universal  judgment  that  he  is  an 
incorrigil)le  dunce.  But  take  him  fi'om  his  un- 
grateful toil,  and  task  his  energies  with  a  woi'k 
^vhich  interests  his  affections,  the  almost  idiot 
expands  into  a  young  intellectual  giant,  and  his 
proficiency  astonishes  all  observers.  So  it  is 
with  the  true  Christian.  Before  he  experienced 
the  power  of  religion,  nothing  was  more  difficult 
than  his  indoctrination  in  those  great  truths  that 
form  the  life  and  soul  of  evangelical  piety.     He 


142  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

complained  tliat  they  were  entirely  wanting  in 
evidence,  as  well  as  devoid  of  attraction.  He 
could  not  apprehend  their  meaning :  his  memory 
failed  in  the  endeavor  to  retain  them,  and  a  ser- 
mon in  which  any  of  them  was  discussed  inva- 
riably put  him  to  sleep :  no  distillation  of  hen- 
bane or  pop23y  equalled  it  in  narcotic  virtue. 
But  how  prodigious  the  change !  All  is  now 
light,  clearness  and  beauty.  The  doctrines  which 
occasioned  him  so  much  perplexity  are  now  as 
easy  and  simple  to  his  understanding,  as  they 
are  refreshing  to  his  heart.  He  scarcely  needs 
a  hermeneutical  apparatus,  but  at  once  drinks 
them  in  with  all  the  zest  and  facility,  with  which 
the  infant  —  heaven-taught  —  draws  its  natural 
aliment  from  the  mother's  breast.  This  is  what 
the  pious  Psalmist  alludes  to  when  he  says,  "  I 
have  more  understanding  than  all  my  teachers : 
he  had  just  before  given  the  ex]3lanation, — "  Oh 
how  /  love  thy  lawr 

We  proceed  to  certain  Special  Kules  which 
should  guide  us  in  the  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture. 


USUS    LOQUENDI.  143 

RULE   I. 

Carefully  investigate  the  Usus  loquendi.  By 
this  is  meant  wliat  the  words  literally  express, 
the  custom  of  speech.  The  meauing  of  words  is 
for  the  most  part  perfectly  arbitrary.  They 
call  up  certain  ideas,  because  men  have  agreed 
that  they  shall  do  so,  and  for  no  other  reason : 
general  usage,  therefore,  is  the  great  standard, 
"quern  penes  arbitrium  est  et  jus  et  norma 
dicendi."  In  living  languages  we  ascertain  the 
usage  from  conversation  and  personal  inter- 
course. In  those  long  since  dead,  as  the  Hebrew 
and  Greek,  we  draw  on  various  sources: 

1st.  Contemporary  writers.  With  respect  to 
the  Old  Testament,  we  have  none  such — all  the 
Hebrew  extant  being  contained  in  our  volume. 
In  place  of  them  we  have  a  tolerably  clear  and 
ample  Jewish  tradition :  for  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  the  rabbis  have  preserved  with  good  fidelity 
much  of  their  old  national  language.  As  to  the 
New  Testament,  we  have  all  the  Greek  writers 
from  Homer  to  Longinus ;  though  they  must 
be  used  with  caution,  as  the  New  Testament  is 


144  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

written  in  a  Hebraistic  idiom,  and  not  in  the 
classical  language  of  Demosthenes. 

2d.  Scholiasts  and  glossographers.  These 
were  men  who  lived  after  the  death  of  the 
writers,  but  while  the  language  was  still  living, 
and  who  must  have  understood  the  meaning  of 
words  better  than  we.  Scholia,  were  short  notes 
inserted  in  the  margin  of  the  work  explained, 
illustrating  some  j)hrase  or  turn  of  expression. 
Scholia  on  the  New  Testament  are  very  numer- 
ous, and  some  of  them  have  come  down  from 
remote  antiquity.  A  noble  edition  of  the  New 
Testament,  containing  a  large  collection  of  them, 
has  been  published  by  Matthai,  a  distinguished 
German  professor.  Glossaries  (from  yl^aoa  a 
form  of  speech)  are  dictionaries,  giving  explana- 
tions of  certain  words  arranged  in  alphabetical 
order,  and  differins;  from  common  dictionaries  in 
this,  that  they  contain  remarks  on  such  words 
only  as  are  difficult  and  obscure.  The  principal 
works  of  this  kind  are  those  of  Hesychius,  Sui- 
das,  Phavorinus,  and  Photius. 

3d.  Ancient  translations,  made  when  the  lan- 
guages were  still  living.     Such  is  the  Sej)tua- 


USUS    LOQUENDI.  145 

gint  version  of  tlie  Hebrew  Bible,  made  nearly 
tliree  hundred  years  before  Christ ;  when  the 
language  was  well  understood,  though  not  spoken 
with  perfect  purity.  The  value  of  this  work  to 
the  student  of  the  New  Testament,  as  well  as  the 
Old,  is  incalculable :  for  without  the  steady  light 
which  is  cast  by  it  on  the  meaning  and  force  of 
expressions,  the  interpreter  could  scarcely  ad- 
vance a  step.  The  Chaldee  paraphrase,  is  an- 
other venerable  translation  of  the  Old  Testament. 
It  presents  the  views  concerning  the  meaning  of 
that  part  of  Scripture,  entertained  by  the  learned 
Jews  contemporary  with  our  Lord:  being  com- 
posed a  little  before  his  birth,  and  in  the  dialect 
spoken  at  that  time  by  the  nation.  The  old 
Syriac  version  is  also  extremely  valuable. 

4th.  Kindred  dialects.  This  source  of  aid  is 
peculiarly  useful  with  respect  to  that  part  of 
Scripture  which  most  needs  it — the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  Hebrew  has  three  sisters  so  like 
her,  that  there  can  be  no  mistake  as  to  their 
common  parentage :  they  are  the  Arabic,  Chal- 
daic  or  East  Armaean,  Syriac  or  West  Arma- 
ean.     In  two  of  these — the  Syriac  and  Arabic 


146  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

— tliere  are  numerous  writings  still  extant,  and 
the  Arabic  is  a  livino;  Ian2:ua2:e.  The  use  of 
dialects  in  determinin":  the  sense  of  words,  re- 
quires  skill  and  judgment ;  as  it  by  no  means 
follows  that  the  precise  signification  is  the  same 
in  both,  because  they  are  sisters.  Yet  its  great 
value  as  a  subsidiary,  is  generally  confessed  : 
proofs  of  it  you  have  in  every  page  of  Gesen- 
ius's  dictionary. 

5th.  Etymology ;  or  the  examination  of  roots. 
When  other  expedients  fail,  we  may  sometimes 
derive  considerable  assistance  from  tracing  an 
expression  to  its  original  element.  But  after 
all,  etymology  is  slijij^ery  ground.  Words  in 
the  process  of  derivation  or  composition,  often 
deviate  from  their  original  import,  so  that  the 
child  loses  nearly  all  resemblance  to  its  j^arent. 
Thus  the  English  word  villain  in  our  old  writers 
means  a  slave  ;  rascal,  in  Saxon,  a  lean  heast ; 
hostis^  in  Latin,  originally  signified  (according 
to.  Cicero)  a  stranger  ;  pagan,  which  with  us  is 
equivalent  to  heathen^  denoted  nothing  worse 
in  the  language  last  mentioned,  from  which  we 
obtained  it,  than  a  farmer^  or  inhabitant  of  the 


USUS    LOQUENDI.  147 

country,  ii^nfs  is  a  Hebrew  verb  signifying  to 
he  holy ;  tlie  noun  ''^'}^,  one  of  its  derivatives, 
is  the  common  term  for  prostitute.  Two  in- 
stances may  be  given  from  the  ISTew  Testament, 
to  illustrate  the  danger  of  reasoning  from  ety- 
mological significations.  The  verb  TiQoyLvcooxoj 
is  compounded  of  the  preposition  ttqo,  before, 
and  yivwoyio),  to  know.  It  should  therefore 
always  denote  simple  foreknowledge,  and  many 
Arminians  contend  that  it  does  so ;  yet  who- 
ever impartially  examines  the  usus  loquendi  of 
the  New  Testament,  will  see  at  once  that  it  is 
sometimes  fully  equal  in  strength  of  meaning 
to  our  English  svord  foreordain  :  see  Rom.  ii.  2, 
Acts  ii.  23,  1  Pet.  i.  20.  The  adjective  aiwviog, 
is  commonly  used  by  the  Greeks  for  "  eternal " 
or  "  everlasting,"  and  is  the  strongest  term  they 
can  employ  :  in  this  sense  it  is  constantly  used 
in  the  New  Testament,  with  perhaps  one  or  two 
exceptions.  But  the  Universalist  reminds  us 
that  it  comes  from  auov^  an  age^  and  must  there- 
fore be  translated  '"'having  age^'^  or  '^  endwing 
for  an  ageJ^  So  too,  aicoveg  aiwvcjv  can  mean 
nothing  more  than  a  "  number  of  ages,"  though 


148  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

in  every  case,  without  a  solitary  exception,  it 
expresses  j)roper  eternity. 

We  cannot  forbear  citing  another  example  of 
deserting  the  established  meaning  of  words  or 
phrases  for  supposed  etymologies,  from  a  Scot- 
tish divine  of  some  note,  who  has  written  on 
the  Baptist  controversy.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Ewing, 
author  of  a  Greek  dictionary  and  grammar,  dis- 
satisfied with  the  usual  method  of  meetina:  the 
Immersionists,  undertakes  to  show  that  the 
word  baptize^  so  far  from  signifying  to  "  dip  " 
or  "  merge,"  j^rojierly  denotes  the  operation  of 
"  dropping  "  or  "  s^^rinkling  ;"  and  accomplishes 
it  in  the  following  way.  All  Greek  verbs,  being 
derived  from  biliteral  roots,  the  word  ftanto)  of 
which  ^aTTTt^o)  is  a  form,  must  be  traced  to  the 
syllable  bap  or  pap,  which  is  of  course  equiva- 
lent to  the  English  pop.  But  pop  is  a  word 
evidently  taken  from  nature,  and  expresses  the 
sound  of  a  drop  of  water  falling  upon  a  table. 
^ajiTto  therefore  means  the  same  thing,  and 
represents  very  happily  the  sprinkling  process  ; 
so  that  when  the  Apostles  were  commanded  to 
"  go  and  disciple  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in 


USUS   LOQUENDI.  149 

the  name,"  etc.,  they  were  required  in  so  many 
words  to  admit  converts  into  the  visible  church 
by  hopping  or  popping  on  them — quod  erat  de- 
monstrandum !  We  woukl  not  take  notice  of 
a  hypothesis  so  ludicrous,  were  it  not  calculated 
by  its  very  oddity  to  fix  in  the  mind  an  impor- 
tant principle  of  interpretation.  We  are  far 
from  sympathizing  with  our  Baptist  friends  in 
their  strong  dislike  to  aspersion.  On  the  con- 
trary, we  think  that  in  their  zeal  for  carrying 
out  the  physical  idea  of  mersion^  they  forget 
that  by  a  not  uncommon  extension  of  meaning, 
the  physical  act  when  employed  as  a  mere  sijm- 
hol^  may  lose  much  of  its  water,  and  express 
religious  ablution  in  general ;  of  which  fair 
examples  may  be  quoted  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment. At  the  same  time,  we  grant  that  some 
of  the  arguments  employed  by  our  writers  are 
extremely  puerile,  and  would  try  the  temper  of 
persons  much  more  disjDosed  to  play  the  amiable 
than  our  worthy  brethren  seem  to  be,  where 
their  distinctive  practice  is  concerned. 

Nothing  can  be  more  unsafe  than  the  modes 
of  procedure  referred  to  in  the  three  preceding 


150  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

examples.  Independently  of  tlie  fact  tliat  what 
we  assign  as  the  original  signification  may  be 
false,  (which  the  last  instance  strikingly  illus- 
trates,) the  use  of  words  is  continually  fluctuat- 
ing, and  w^e  cannot  be  too  careful  in  guarding 
against  errors  from  this  source.  Yet  they  are 
common  :  whole  systems  of  theology,  and  even 
natural  science,  have  been  constructed  on  fanci- 
ful etymologies,  by  men  whose  imaginations 
outran  their  judgment,  of  which  we  may  cite 
Parkhurst's  Hebrew  and  Greek  lexicons  as  an 
example.  Great  aid,  however,  may  be  derived 
from  a  sober  and  skillful  tracing  of  words  back 
to  their  source  :  if  it  does  not  always  direct  to 
their  present  meaning,  it  seldom  fails  to  throw 
a  happy  light  on  the  history  of  language. 

These  are  the  principal  means  of  the  "  Usus 
Loquendi."  It  wT)uld  be  cruel,  however,  to 
impose  upon  all  the  task  of  digging  into  these 
deep  mines.  The  labor  is  in  a  measure  saved 
by  good  dictionaries,  which,  if  really  good,  con- 
tain the  results  of  such  investigations.  Hap- 
pily we  are  well  supplied  with  Gesenius  in 
Hebrew,  and  Wahl  and  Bretschneider  in  Greek : 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  151 

Professor  Robinson's  Lexicon  is  equaEy  excel- 
lent, combining  the  good  c|ualities  of  both. 
One  or  other  of  these  is  indispensable.  The 
student  who  takes  with  him  to  the  seminary 
his  college  lexicon  as  a  competent  interpreter  of 
the  language  of  the  New  Testament,  probably 
does  not  know  what  he  is  doing  ;  but  whether 
known  or  not,  he  is  really  making  a  foolery  of 
the  whole  business.  All  the  classical  diction- 
aries in  the  world  piled  upon  his  table,  would 
never  help  him  through  the  first  verse  of  the 
first  chapter  of  Matthew. 


EULE    II. 


Examine  carefully  the  parallel  passages.  By 
these  are  meant,  texts  which  relate  to  the  same 
subject,  teach  the  same  doctrine,  or  relate  the 
same  historical  fact.  They  should  be  accurately 
collated,  that  one  may  supply  light  to  the  other, 
and  fill  up  what  is  wanting  to  the  perspicuity 
of  tlie  whole.  We  j^erform  this  operation  con- 
stantly in  reading  the  most  familiar  letter,  or 
the  simplest  story.     Its  value  in  the  study  and 


152  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

explanation  of  Scripture,  can  liardly  be  expressed. 
It  not  only  enables  us  to  enter  into  tlie  meaning 
and  force  of  particular  expressions,  but  places 
us  on  a  commanding  eminence,  where  we  may 
survey  the  whole  field  of  divine  truth,  and 
admire  the  harmony  of  its  several  parts.  All 
systematic  theology  should  be  built  on  this 
alone.  "  I  will  not  scruple  to  assert,"  says  the 
learned  Bishop  Horsley,  "  that  the  most  illiter- 
ate Christian,  if  he  can  but  read  his  English 
Bible,  and  will  take  the  pains  to  read  it  in  this 
manner,  (studying  the  parallel  passages,)  with- 
out any  other  commentary  than  what  the  dif- 
ferent parts  mutually  furnish  for  each  other, 
will  not  only  attain  all  that  practical  knowledge 
which  is  necessary  to  salvation,  but  will  become 
learned  in  everything  relating  to  his  religion. 
He  may  safely  be  ignorant  of  all  philosophy, 
and  all  history,  which  he  does  not  find  in  the 
sacred  books." 

Parallels  are  of  two  kinds,  Verbal  and  Real; 
Verbal,  ai'e  those  in  which  the  very  same  word 
or  phrase  is  used,  though  the  meaning  in  one 
may  be  much  clearer  than  in  the  other,  and  con- 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  153 

sequently  give  light  to  it.  Thus  in  Joel  ii.  28, 
God  promises  that  he  "  will  pour  out  his  Spirit 
on  all  flesh."  Doubtful  how  to  understand 
'  flesh  "  in  this  passage,  I  compare  it  with  Gen., 
vi.  12,  which  says  that  "  all  flesh  corruj^ted  their 
way."  As  the  whole  mass  of  mankind  is 
here  meant,  I  feel  authorized  to  give  the  same 
extent  of  meaning  to  the  word  in  Joel.  In 
Matt.  i.  20,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  declares  that 
Mary  shall  "  conceive  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Struck  with  the  peculiarity  of  the  expression, 
I  go  to  the  corresponding  passage  in  Luke,  and 
find  him  usino-  it  also,  but  addins;  another 
which  is  evidently  intended  to  be  exegetical, 
viz.,  "  Power  of  the  Highest,"  Luke  i.  35  :  The 
Holy  Ghost  therefore  is  here  equivalent  to  the 
Divine  energy.  In  1  Cor.  vii.  1,  Paul  says,  "  It 
is  not  good  for  a  man  to  marry."  A  little  star- 
tled at  this  squinting  of  the  great  apostle  to- 
wards monkery,  I  look  further  down  the  chapter 
for  an  explanation,  and  find  it  in  the  26th  verse : 
"  it  is  good  for  the  present  distress."  Marriage 
is  an  excellent  thing,  but  may  be  very  inexpe- 
dient in  times  of  severe  persecution. 
8 


154  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

Real  parallelism  is  a  correspondence  in  the 
tlionglit,  or  subject,  although  the  words  are  dif- 
ferent ;  and  is  still  more  important  than  the  oth- 
er. It  is  two-fold,  historical  and  doctrinal.  His- 
torical parallelisms  are  those  which  occur  in  the 
relation  of  matters  of  fact.  The  four  Gospels 
are  full  of  these,  and  a  careful  collation  of  them 
is  of  unspeakable  use  in  interpretation.  One 
evangelist  fills  up  the  outlines  briefly  sketched 
by  another,  supplying  some  circumstance  of 
time,  place,  or  occasion,  ■which  throws  a  flood  of 
light  on  the  whole  transaction.  From  a  diligent 
and  minute  comparison  of  their  accounts,  Har- 
monies are  constructed  which  deserve  to  be  well 
studied.  There  are  similar  coincidences  in  the 
Old  Testament,  ex.  gr.  between  the  books  of 
Chronicles  and  Kings. 

Many  of  these  passages  off*er  serious  difficulty 
to  the  interpreter,  in  consequence  of  a  strong 
appearance  of  inconsistency  and  contradiction. 
The  greater  number,  however,  yield  readily  to 
diligent  and  careful  scrutiny, — originating  in 
some  misconception  of  the  readei*,  or  in  false  read- 
ings of  the  text,  which  in  the  Old  Testament  are 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  155 

numerous.  By  taking  a  correct  view  of  tlie 
subject,  scope,  and  connection  of  eacli  passage, 
and  observing  the  style,  with  other  peculiarities 
of  the  writers,  discrepancies,  which  at  lu'st  ap- 
peared with  a  most  fierce  and  threatening  as- 
pect, have  turned  into  lambs  and  doves.  Some, 
however,  (especially  those  found  in  the  Gospel 
narratives,)  are  really  perplexing,  and  have  been 
the  "crux  theologorum"  in  all  ages, — of  which  we 
cite  the  following  as  illustrations.  There  seems 
a  very  decided  repugnance  between  Matthew's 
account  of  our  Saviour's  baptism,  and  that  of 
John ;  the  former  representing  the  Baptist  as 
knowing  Jesus  from  the  first,  while  the  latter 
says  that  he  did  not  know  him  till  the  descent 
of  the  Spirit.  Compare  John  i.  23,  and  Mat- 
thew iii.  13.  There  is  also  a  singular  clashing 
between  the  narratives  of  Matthew  and  Luke 
concerning  the  miracle  wrought  upon  the  blind 
near  Jericho, — Matthew  making  the  number  two^ 
and  expressly  saying  that  our  Lord  was  depart- 
ing '■''from  the  city," — Luke  declaring  that  he  was 
going  to  it,  and  that  but  07ie  individual  was  re- 
stored.    Compare  Matthew  xx.  30,  and  Luke 


156  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

xviii.  35.  In  liis  account  of  the  crucifixion  John 
differs  from  the  other  evangelists  as  to  time, 
stating  that  it  took  place  after  the  sixth  hour  ; 
Mark,  with  whom  Matthew  and  Luke  agree, 
names  the  third.  In  the  accounts  of  his  unction 
by  Mary,  the  discordancy  is  equally  marked, 
John  saying  that  it  occurred  six  days  before 
the  passover,  Matthew  and  Mark  specifying  two. 
The  narratives  of  Christ's  resurrection  and  the 
circumstances  which  followed  it  seem  also  at  va- 
riance, and  in  no  small  degree. 

These  examples  will  sufiice,  though  we  might 
adduce  a  score  of  others.  Now,  it  is  not  allowed 
for  a  moment  that  they  are  incapable  of  being 
harmonized ;  still,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they 
bear  a  strong  appearance  of  discrepancy.  The 
student  therefore  should  examine  them  carefully, 
with  such  helps  as  the  learned  have  furnished, — 
remembering  that  he  must  occasionally  fall  in 
with  the  infidel,  and  that  the  infidel  is  apt  to  be 
an  insect  of  the  blue-bottle  genus,  who  always 
settles  on  such  spots.  If  after  his  best  exertions 
he  does  not  receive  perfect  satisfaction,  let  him 
not  be  frightened  as  if  these  gentlemen  had 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  157 

gained  a  fearful  advantage :  tlie  trutli  is,  they 
have  gained  a  loss,  the  fact  of  disagreement  in 
matters  of  trifling  moment  proving  triumph- 
antly the  substantial  veracity  of  our  writers,  and 
the  consequent  truth  of  Christianity.  What- 
ever trouble  it  may  give  us  in  defending  the 
doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration^  it  is  a  thunderbolt 
against  the  Deist ;  for  is  it  not  certain,  that  if 
the  sacred  historians  had  combined  to  palm  a 
falsehood  on  us,  they  would,  like  fraudulent 
gamesters,  have  taken  care  to  play  into  each  oth- 
ers' hands,  and  studiously  avoided  every  appear- 
ance of  collusion?  But  nothing  of  this  kind 
aj^pears.     There  is  no  leaning*  on  each  other, 

*  This  must  be  taken  with  a  grain  of  allo-wance.  The  general 
reader  may  think  that  a  "  leaning"  is  very  perceptible — such  a 
leaning  as  an  ill-natured  critic  would  call  gross  plagiarism.  There 
are  whole  paragraphs,  and  even  chapters,  identical  in  thought, 
order  of  thought,  and  expression — not  so  much  as  a  preposition 
being  changed.  This  is  a  curious  fact ;  but  we  have  noted  another 
which  pleasantly  relieves  us  from  the  suspicion  that  they  were  in 
collusion.  They  differ  as  materially  as  they  agree — are  often  so 
discrepant  from  each  other  in  language,  choice  of  events,  and  de- 
termination of  time  and  circumstances,  that  one  is  tempted  to 
give  up  the  whole  business  of  harmonizing  them  in  utter  discour- 
agement. Their  "leaning,"  now,  is  that  of  wrestlers  who  press 
their  adversaries  to  the  ground.  In  the  want  of  all  historical  in- 
formation, the  learned  have  attempted  to  explain  this  by  a  theory. 


158  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

no  mutual  adjustment  of  what  they  have  to  say, 
nor  endeavor  so  to  trim  their  statements  that 
they  shall  nicely  fit  those  of  their  colleagues, 
and  the  whole  together  present,  like  fine  cabinet 
work,  a  smooth,  unbroken  surface  to  the  eye. 
What  a  delightful  proof  of  the  unbending  and 
uncompromising  honesty  of  these  pure-hearted 
men!  Remember  these  things.  Christian  stu- 
dent ;  and  when  any  of  the  difficulties  alluded 


Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke,  they  say,  (the  evangelist  John  is  not 
concerned  here,)  never  saw  each  others'  writings,  but  had  access 
to  a  common  source,  or  rather  sources  of  information,  from  which 
they  drew  with  such  variations  as  we  find.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  various  accounts  had  been  written  of  our  Lord's  life  and  death 
before  they  commenced  their  work.  Some  of  them  had  gained  cur- 
rency and  credit,  being  taken  from  the  lips  of  the  Apostles,  and  per- 
haps there  was  one  of  special  mark.  Translations  had  been  made 
of  them  from  Hebrew  into  Greek,  and  from  Greek  into  Hebrew,  so 
that  a  rich  apparatus  of  material  lay  on  the  table  of  our  biogra- 
phers, which  they  used  with  the  prudence,  sagacity,  and  discrim- 
ination given  to  them  from  above.  Hence  both  their  agreement 
and  discrepancy :  agreement,  when  they  used  the  same  document  ; 
disagreement,  when  their  choice  differed.  The  result  is,  that  we 
have  three  independent  recensions,  substantially  at  one,  yet  so 
different  as  to  remove  aU  suspicion  of  their  being  leagued  togeth- 
er in  a  scheme  to  mislead. 

None  but  very  nervous  persons  will  be  startled  at  the  idea  of 
inspired  books  being  concocted  out  of  preexisting  documents. 
Divine  truth  is  always  divine  truth,  however  communicated,  if  it 
has  the  divine  endorsement,  whether  it  comes  originally  from  a 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  159 

to  rise  up  to  harass  and  perplex  you,  take  com- 
fort from  reflecting  that  the  occasion  of  your 
distress  is  one  of  the  strongest  guarantees  for  the 
truth  of  your  religion.  Bless  God  that  there 
are  things  in  the  Gospel  wJiich  you  are  called  to 
reconcile  ! 

Parallelism  of  doctrine  is  found,  where  the 
same  principles  are  taught  in  two  or  more  pas- 
sages.    The  great  business  of  the  didactic  theo- 

clap  of  thunder  in  the  sky,  an  oral  tradition,  a  slirewd  remark  of 
a  wise  woman  of  Tels:oah,  or  an  excerpt  from  the  book  of  Jasher. 
Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke,  had  to  delve  for  much  of  it  in  scat- 
tered memoranda,  written  by  good  men,  doubtless  from  the  lips 
of  the  Apostles  of  whom  Matthew  was  one,  but  which  received 
the  divine  imprimatur  only  after  being  transferred  to  their  endur- 
ing pages.  In  a  word,  Grod  saw  fit  to  take  what  he  intended  for 
the  permanent  use  of  his  church  from  depositories  where  it  was 
almost  sure  to  die,  and  place  it  where  it  would  be  immortal.  No . 
one  can  dream,  for  instance,  that  the  two  evangelists,  who  have 
given  us  the  genealogies,  received  them  by  direct  revelation, 
when  they  had  access  to  human  and  documentary  sources  of  in- 
formation; or  that  Moses  received  the  historic  matter  of  the 
book  of  Genesis  immediately  from  the  mouth  of  God.  There 
are  proofs  in  every  page  that  he  used  written  documents.  For 
an  example,  the  student  need  only  go  to  the  first  and  second  chap- 
ters,— the  evidence  that  he  had  two  distinct  versions  of  the  story 
of  the  creation  before  him  being  irresistible.  There  were  facts 
in  both,  which  were  deemed  of  essential  moment;  they  were 
therefore  sewed  together,  rather  inartificially  it  might  be  thought, 
for  at  the  4th  verse  of  the  2d  chapter  we  can  observe  the  seam. 


160  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

logian  is,  to  investigate  this  class  of  correspond- 
encies. All  sound  knowledge  of  Christian 
doctrines  depends  on  the  faithful  and  judicious 
comparison  of  scrij^ture  with  scripture.  Does 
the  student  w^ant  clear  views  concernino;  man's 
relations  to  his  Creator,  original  corruption,  the 
person  and  work  of  the  Redeemer,  justification, 
the  connection  between  it  and  the  'renewal  of 
the  soul  in  holiness,  the  happiness  and  misery 
of  a  futm*e  state, — his  course  is  plain  and  easy. 
He  must  find  the  great  classical  passages  on 
each  point,  and  bring  them  in  juxtaposition ;  he 
must  compare  (asking  no  other  assistance  but 
God's  grace  and  a  good  dictionary)  Isaiah  with 
Matthew,  Paul  to  the  Romans  with  Paul  to  the 
Galatians,  and  Ijoth  these  with  James,  the  au- 
thor of  the  Apocalypse  with  Daniel  and  Ezekiel, 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  with  Genesis  and 
Leviticus.  Let  him  do  this  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  with  a  single  desire  to  know  the  truth  ; 
he  will  not  probably  come  from  his  labor  a  hair- 
splitting metaphysician  or  cunning  rhetorician, 
but  he  will  prove  something  more  and  better, 
"  a  good  steward  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God," 


PARALLEL    PASSAGES.  161 

Besides  the  coincidences  above  mentioned, 
there  is  in  Scripture  what  is  called  the  j^oetic 
parallelism^  with  which  every  reader  of  Hebrew 
is  acquainted.  It  consists  in  a  mutual  corre- 
spondence of  the  two  members  of  a  stanza ;  the 
one  being  a  sort  of  echo  to  the  other,  as  in 
Isaiah  i.  3 : 

The  ox  knowetli  his  owner, 
The  ass  his  master's  crib : 
Israel  does  not  know, 
My  people  do  not  consider. 

Sometimes  the  answering  clause  is  synony- 
mous with  the  first,  as  in  the  example  just  cited. 

Sometimes  antithetical,  or  opposed  to  it,  as  in 
Prov.  xii.  1 : 

A  wise  son  makes  a  glad  father, 

But  a  foolish  son  is  the  grief  of  his  mother. 

At  others,  it  contains  only  a  further  develop- 
ment of  the  thought,  as  in  Psalm  cxlviii.  T: 

Praise  the  Lord  upon  the  earth, 
Ye  dragons,  and  all  deeps : 
Fire,  and  hail :  snow,  and  vapor  : 
Stormy  wind  fulfilling  his  will : 
Mountains,  and  aU  hiUs ; 
Fruit-trees,  and  all  cedars. 
8* 


162  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

These  parallelisms  are  of  excellent  use  to  the 
interpreter.  Tliey  often  enable  him  to  decide 
important  questions  concerning  the  meaning  of 
words  and  propositions,  when  deserted  by  all 
other  hermeneutical  aids.  Nor  is  their  use  con- 
fined to  the  Old  Testament.  The  same  ryth- 
mical construction  everywhere  prevails  in  the 
New,  which  in  this,  as  in  many  other  respects, 
has  received  a  decided  tinge  from  the  Hebrew 
writings.  On  this  whole  subject  we  earnestly 
recommend  to  the  student  Bishop  Lowth's  Lec- 
tures on  Hebrew  Poetry,  a  book  almost  worthy 
of  its  theme. 


RULE   HI. 


The  consideration  of  the  author's  scope  or  de- 
sign greatly  facilitates  interpretation.  Every 
man  (not  a  fool)  has  some  definite  purj)ose  in 
speaking,  and  it  is  fairly  presumed  that  he  ^vill 
use  such  terms  and  arguments  as  are  suited  to 
it.  The  scoj)e  is  the  soul — the  vis  vitse  of  a 
work,  which   lives   and   breathes  through  the 


SCOPE    OR    DESIGN.  163 

whole,  giving  order,  force,  and  beauty  to  every 
part.     It  may  be  ascertained  in  various  ways. 

1.  By  marking  the  occasion  on  which  the  pas- 
sage or  hook  was  written.  Thus,  the  occasion  of 
Paul's  epistle  to  the  Galatians  was  the  dissemi- 
nation among  them  of  Jewish  errors  concerning 
the  way  of  justification :  he  "  marvels  that  they 
were  so  soon  removed  from  him  that  called  them 
into  the  grace  of  the  Gospel."  The  epistle  to 
the  Romans  had  a  like  origin.  The  inscriptions 
on  many  of  the  Psalms,  describing  the  condition 
of  the  poet  when  they  were  composed,  give  them 
wonderful  vivacity  and  impressiveness.  Take 
for  example  the  third  Psalm,  and  in  reading  it 
set  before  you  the  pious  monarch  di'iven  from 
his  throne  by  the  machinations  of  an  unnatural 
son,  and  wandering  among  the  hills  of  Gilead, 
wanting  the  very  necessaries  of  life,  and  in  con- 
stant danger  from  enemies  who  were  thirsting 
for  his  blood ;  yet  expressing  his  perfect  confi- 
dence that  all  would  be  well  at  last,  whatever 
temporary  triumph  might  be  allowed  them. 
How  thrilling  every  expression  of  his  victorious 
faith  in  the  power  and  promise  of  God  under 


164  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

siicli  cii'cumstances !  It  appears  that  the  serene 
old  man  did  not  lose  a  night's  rest  in  the  darkest 
period  of  his  trial : 

I  lay  me  down  and  sleep ; 
I  awake,  for  Jehovah  sustains  me. 
I  fear  not  ten  thousands  of  people, 
Who  set  themselves  round  about  me. 

The  discourses  of  Christ  receive  like  illustrci- 
tions  from  adverting  to  the  occasion  of  them. 
Many  were  answers  to  the  cavils  and  imperti- 
nences of  the  Pharisees:  some  were  connected 
with  occurrences  which  took  place  in  his  pres- 
ence :  others  were  suggested  by  questions  of  his 
disciples.  How  much  we  should  lose  of  the 
meaning  and  beauty  of  his  conversation  with 
the  Samaritan  woman,  if  we  separated  it  from 
the  little  introductory  circumstances  which  are 
recorded,  viz.,  that  the  place  was  "  Sychar,"  the 
chief  city  of  the  most  bitter  enemies  of  his  na- 
tion ;  that  "Jacob's  well"  was  there  ;  that,  weary 
with  journeying,  he  sat  uj)on  its  mouth  waiting 
the  return  of  his  disciples,  "  who  had  gone  into 
the  city  to  buy  meat ;"  that  he  excited  her  as- 
tonishment by  asking  drink  of  her,  "  for  the 


SCOPE   OR    DESIGN.  1G5 

Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the  Samaritaus." 
Every  one  of  these  apparently  trifling  incidents 
has  its  use  in  illustratino;  what  follows :  not  one 
could  be  spared,  without  detracting  from  a  com- 
position which,  measured  by  a  standard  merely 
literary,  has  nothing  to  compare  with  it  in  all 
the  ancient  and  modern  classics. 

2.  Bij  examhmig  whether  the  tvriter  has  not 
himself  mentioned  his  design.  Thus  the  Evan- 
gelist John  informs  us  what  his  purpose  was  in 
writing  his  gospel,  John  xx.  31.  "  These  things 
are  written  that  ye  might  believe  upon  Jesus, 
and  that  believing  ye  might  have  life  through 
his  name."  Luke  avows  his  design  very  clearly. 
He  seems  to  have  been  dissatisfied  with  some  of 
the  current  accounts  which  had  been  published 
of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  determines  to  give  an 
accurate  and  orderly  detail,  the  result  of  his  own 
personal  investigations.  As  he  intimates  his 
purpose  to  write  xcc^£^7^g,  i.  e.,  "in  order" — hav- 
ing carefully  followed  up  every  event,  naqiyAo- 
lov^riY.oTi  avM&EV  axQi^ojg^  many  judicious  com- 
mentators infer  that  where  the  evangelists  differ 
as  to  the  order  of  facts,  his  account  is  to  be  pre- 


166  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

ferred,  and  have  accordingly  made  it  the  basis 
of  their  schemes  of  harmony.  The  author  of 
Ecclesiastes  is  another  instance  of  a  sacred  writer 
who  states  his  object.  The  whole  work  is  a 
commentary  on  the  first  verse,  "  Vanity  of  van- 
ities, saith  the  preacher ;  all  is  vanity."  It  must 
be  confessed  that  he  sticks  to  his  melancholy 
text  most  closely,  and  expounds  it  with  a  fear- 
ful energy. 

Occasionally  a  sacred  writer  gives  his  pur- 
pose not  at  the  outset,  but  the  close  of  his  re- 
marks. A  striking  instance  is  found  in  Paul's 
epistle  to  the  Romans.  In  the  first  three  chap- 
ters he  elaborately  reviews  the  moral  condition 
of  mankind,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  in  all  ages, 
and  shows  that  the  whole  world  was  guilty 
before  God.  In  the  20th  verse  of  the  third 
chapter,  we  see  him  distinctly  approaching  his 
object :  "  Therefore  by  the  deeds  of  the  law 
shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight ;  for  by 
the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin."  This  was 
one  point  gained,  and  one  of  momentous  inter- 
est to  a  mind  anxiously  inquiring,  "  How  shall 
man  be  just  with  God  ?"     But  he  had  a  much 


SCOPE    OR    DESIGN.  167 

higher  aim  than  merely  to  prostrate  the  simier : 
he  kills  that  he  may  make  alive  ;  and  after  an 
eloquent  discussion  through  the  seven  verses 
that  follow,  brings  out  in  the  28th  the  great 
central  truth  of  the  Gospel  with  dialectic  for- 
mality. "  Therefore  we  conclude  that  a  man  is 
justified  by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  law." 
3dly.  If  both  the  expedients  mentioned  fail, 
we  should  read  the  whole  book,  marking  the  coher- 
ence of  its  various  parts.  Mr.  Locke  recom- 
mends the  perusal  of  it  at  one  sitting,  quoting 
his  own  experience  in  favor  of  the  plan.  "  I 
concluded  it  necessary,"  he  says,  (speaking  of 
Paul's  epistles,)  "  for  the  understanding  of  any 
one  of  them,  often  to  read  it  all  through  at  one 
sitting,  and  to  observe,  as  well  as  I  could,  the 
design  of  his  writing  it.  If  the  first  reading 
gave  me  some  light,  the  second  gave  me  more  ; 
and  so  I  persisted  on,  reading  constantly  the 
whole  epistle  over  at  once,  till  I  came  to  have  a 
good  general  view  of  the  apostle's  main  purpose 
in  writing."  The  advice  is  excellent,  suggest- 
ing the  very  method  we  employ  in  ascertaining 
the  scope  of  other  writings.     If  the  title-page 


168  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

leaves  any  doubt  or  darkness  on  the  subject,  we 
instinctively  turn  to  tlie  table  of  contents,  or 
skim  over  the  different  chapters,  before  we 
engage  in  a  critical  perusal.  We  thus  catch 
the  author's  drift — we  see  what  he  would  be  at — 
without  some  knowledge  of  which,  reading  is 
the  most  intolerable  of  all  drudgery. 


RULE    IV, 


Examijie  well  what  precedes  and  follows  the 
part  to  be  expounded.  This  is  called  the  context ; 
and  is  divided  into  the  remote  and  immediate. 
The  immediate  is  that  part  which  stands  in 
immediate  proximity  to  the  passage  ;  the  remote 
may  extend  some  distance  backward  and  for- 
ward. The  mind  generally  thinks  in  train,  and 
connects  its  ideas  together  by  well-known  laws 
of  association.  This  connection  of  thought,  and 
the  logical  relation  of  one  part  of  the  series  to 
another,  is  an  invaluable  key  to  the  mind  of  a 
writer,  except  when  he  professedly  deals  in 
aphorisms, — as  the  author  of  the  book  of  Prov- 
erbs, and  Christ  in  part  of  his  sermon  on  the 


CONTEXT.  1G9 

mount.  It  is  in  some  respects  more  important 
than  the  scope :  the  latter  only  gives  me  the 
author's  general  purpose,  which  does  not  forbid 
the  admission  of  episodes,  and  topics  merely 
collateral :  We  shall  be  cei'tain  to  err  with  re- 
gard to  these,  if  we  neglect  the  connection. 

We  must  be  on  our  guard,  however,  against 
manufacturing  a  connection  ;  in  other  words, 
against  putting  a  false  construction  on  what 
precedes  or  follows,  and  then  moulding  the 
exposition  in  conformity  with  our  own  gloss, — 
a  fault  often  committed.  Falsehood  can  only 
beget  falsehood.  Nor,  supposing  that  our  con- 
struction is  true,  may  we  adjust  our  jjassage  to 
it  by  any  violation  of  the  Usus  Loquendi,  or 
rules  of  grammar.  In  these  cases,  we  must 
take  what  mio-ht  seem  the  worst  of  two  mean- 
ings  —  sacrificing  contextual  symmetry  to  the 
general  la^vs  of  language.  Thus  limited,  the 
rule  that  no  explanation  is  to  be  admitted  which 
does  not  suit  the  context,  is  of  constant  use. 

SupjDose  me  reading  the  42d  Psalm,  and  con- 
sidering the  pathetic  exclamation  in  the  second 
verse  : 


170  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  the  living  God : 
"When  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  God  ? 
My  tears  are  my  meat  day  and  night, 
While  it  is  said  continually.  Where  is  thy  God  ? 

My  first  impulse  is  to  view  it  as  the  expression 
of  a  wish  to  die  and  enjoy  the  felicity  of  heav- 
en ;  especially  as  the  phrase,  "  seeing  God," 
often  refers  to  future  blessedness.  But  a  glance 
at  the  4th  verse  shows  that  the  pious  monarch 
longed  for  restoration  to  the  services  of  the 
earthly  sanctuary,  of  which  he  had  been  de- 
prived by  the  persecutions  of  his  son  Absalom : 

When  I  think  of  this,  I  pour  out  my  heart  in  tears. 

How  I  went  with  the  multitude — went  to  the  house  of  God, 

With  jubilee  and  praise  in  a  sacred,  happy  throng. 

The  110th  Psalm  describes  the  victorious 
progress  of  an  illustrious  prince  greatly  honored 
by  God,  and  exalted  to  his  right  hand.  The 
first  three  verses  leave  me  in  doul^t  whether 
the  poet  speaks  of  David,  or  another  and  far 
greater  j)ersonage,  as  the  sitting  at  God's  right 
hand  may  be  figurative  : 

Jehovah  said  unto  my  Lord, 

Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand, 

Until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool. 

Thy  powerful  sceptre  Jehovah  sends  out  of  Zion  : 

Rule  in  the  midst  of  thv  foes. 


CONTEXT.  171 

But  the  4tli  verse  settles  the  question  : 

Jehovali  hath  sworn  and  will  not  repent, 
Thou  art  an  everlasting  priest 
Of  the  order  of  Melchisedec. 

David  was  uo  priest,  nor  could  any  Hebrew 
monarch,  assume  the  office  without  heaven-dar- 
ing profanity.  The  strange  and  (to  the  Jew) 
astounding  phenomenon  of  a  "priest  upon  a 
throne,"  directs  us  at  once  to  David's  Son  and 
Lord.  The  application  of  this  simple  test  will 
enable  the  plainest  Christian  to  detect  the 
Psalms  called  Messianic  at  a  glance.  They  all 
embody  in  their  representations  such  remark- 
able incidents  and  traits  of  personal  character, 
as  make  it  impossible  to  apply  them  without 
the  grossest  impropriety  to  any  but  the  anointed 
of  the  Father.  Let  the  2d,  16th,  22d,  45th, 
and  72d,  be  brought  to  this  touchstone ;  noth- 
ing but  arrant  infidelity  can  resist  the  force  of 
the  argument. 

It  may  admit  a  doubt  whether  the  celebrated 
description  in  Rom.  vii.  of  the  struggle  between 
the  "  flesh  and  the  spirit,"  refers  to  the  true 
Christian  or  the  unregenerate.     .There  are  some 


172  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

expressions  in  it  which  certainly  agree  best  with 
the  latter  supj^osition.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  whole  sentences  which  cannot  be  re- 
conciled with  this  hypothesis,  and  compel  us  to 
understand  the  apostle  as  describing  the  exer- 
cises of  the  Christian.  In  the  18th  verse,  it  is 
clearly  implied  that  the  person  described  pos- 
sesses impulses  and  principles  superior  to  those 
of  unrenewed  nature.  "  In  me,  that  is,  in  rrnj 
fleshy  dwelleth  no  good  thing."  In  the  2 2d 
verse,  he  is  said  to  "  delight  in  the  Law  of  God 
after  the  inner  man ;"  and  in  the  25th,  he  thanks 
God  for  ' '  his  deliverance  through  Christ  Jesus." 
Further,  to  entirely  preclude  the  supposition 
that  this  deliverance  is  a  new  state^  following, 
and  not  contemporary  with  the  struggle,  he 
adds,  "  So  then  with  the  mind  I  serve  the  Law 
of  God ;  but  with  the  flesh  the  law  of  sin." 
Surely  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  tenor  of 
scripture,  as  an  excellent  commentator  observes, 
to  describe  in  this  way  the  exercises  and  char- 
acter of  unholy  men. 

Let  us  brino;  to  the  contextual  touchstone 
another  passage — the  well-known  paragraph  in 


CONTEXT.  173 

Romans  v.,  wliicli  seems  to  assert  a  direct 
casual  connection  between  Adam  and  Ms  pos- 
terity. "  By  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
world,  and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death  passed 
upon  all  men,  for  all  have  sinned  :  "  By  one 
man's  offence  death^-eigned  by  one  :"  "  By  the 
offence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon  all  to  con- 
demnation:" "By one  man's  disobedience  many 
were  made  sinners."  Pelagians  affirm  that  all 
intended  by  these  remarkable  statements  is, 
that  Adam  gave  the  first  example  of  sinning, 
and  that  somehow  his  posterity  walked  in  his 
steps.  They  compare  the  phraseology  with  ex- 
pressions like  these  :  "  By  Sir  Robert  Walpole, 
bribery  and  corruption  entered  the  British  par- 
liament :"  "  By  Lysander,  luxury  entered  Spar- 
ta ;"  which,  according  to  them,  only  mean  that 
the  evils  mentioned  began  with  these  persons. 
Without  dwelling  on  the  violence  done  to  the 
words  by  this  gloss,  or  the  fact  that  their  own 
phrases  clearly  denote  not  only  a  chronological 
but  a  causal  connection,  let  the  student  look  at 
the  whole  series  of  discourse  that  follows;  in 
which  the  apostle,  with  an   emphasis  and  ac- 


174  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

cumulation  of  synonymous  expressions  whicli 
show  Ilow  intently  liis  mind  was  working  witli 
the  thought,  draws  a  parallel  between  Adam 
and  the  Redeemer.  If  he  does  not  mean  to 
say  that  there  was  a  similitude  between  them, 
in  official  character  and  relations,  almost  perfect, 
there  is  no  meaning  in  language.  The  inference 
is  irresistible.  Christ  was  not  the  first  who  re- 
ceived salvation,  but  is  the  immediate  author  of 
it.  In  the  same  sense  our  guilty  j)rogenitor  is 
the  immediate  authorof  sin  and  misery  to  our 
world. 

This  attem^^t  to  explain  away  the  plain  mean- 
ing of  scripture  is  sufficiently  marked.  That 
of  the  Socinians  to  evacuate  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  of  our  Redeemer's  priesthood  and 
atonement,  is  yet  more  so.  The  priesthood  of 
Jesus,  they  say,  is  a  bold  figure,  merely  denoting 
that  he  was  a  consecrated  minister  of  God.  His 
sacrifice  consisted  in  the  virtuous  obedience 
which  he  yielded,  and  which  might  be  so  called, 
—not  properly,  but  in  a  pretttj^  fanciful  way, — 
because  it  was  crowmed  with  a  death  of  martyr- 
dom !     The  apostle,  then,  through  six  mortal 


CONTEXT.  175 

chapters,  lias  been  hammering  at  a  rough,  un- 
couth fio-ure,  and  the  result  of  all  his  learned 
labor  is — absolutely  nothing  !  Hardly  in  all  the 
annals  of  writing  can  be  found  an  instance  to 
compare  with  it,  of  the  "montes  parturiunt, 
nascetui'  ridiculus  mus."  It  would  be  idle  to 
allege  the  context  against  such  expounders. 
They  grant  every  thing  we  say  concerning  its 
entire  and  perfect  harmony  with  the  doctrine  of 
vicarious  satisfaction  ;  all  they  ask  us  to  allow 
is,  that  the  whole  book  may  be  a  metaphor  run 
mad.  We  would  rather  doubt  the  perfect  sani- 
ty of  some  of  its  expositors. 

These  examples  may  suffice  of  the  advantage 
derived  from  studying  the  context.  It  is  un- 
happily much  discouraged  and  impeded  by  the 
way  in  which  our  modern  Bibles  are  printed. 
The  fracture  of  great  coherent  masses  into 
verses,  is  an  unhappy  arrangement.  The  read- 
er's attention  is  almost  necessarily  carried  away 
from  the  flow  and  current  of  thous-ht,  and  fixed 
on  an  isolated  proposition,  whose  true  meaning 
depends  on  something  not  distinctly  before  his 
mind ;  in  consequence,  he  is  very  apt  to  treat 


17  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

revelation  as  an  immense  collection  of  proverbs, 
and  tlie  majority  of  common  readers  actually  so 
consider  it. 

The  custom  of  readino-  the  New  Testament  in 
this  manner  originated  with  Robert  Stephens, 
the  famous  printer,  who,  having  published  edi- 
tions of  it  which  met  with  great  acceptance, 
determined  to  add  a  Concordance ;  and  for  con- 
venience of  reference  chopped  the  text  into  its 
present  form, — making  it  resemble  more  an  auc- 
tion catalogue,  than  a  civilized,  Christian  book. 
The  mischief  which  it  has  caused  in  relation  to 
the  study  of  scripture  is  far  greater  than  those 
sujipose,  who  have  never  reflected  on  this  sub- 
ject. How  ridiculous  would  a  modern  letter 
appear,  ex.  gr.  Washington's  Farewell  Address, 
if  mutilated  in  this  savage  mannei* !  Yet  such 
is  the  effect  of  custom,  that  it  scarcely  excites 
notice,  when  performed  on  a  writer  who  least 
of  all  can  bear  such  an  infliction, — the  rapid, 
discursive,  and  exuberant  Paul. 

Nor  can  we  approve  the  j^ractice  adopted  by 
many  preachers,  of  running  into  their  pul|)its 
with   a  single  sentence,  or  part  of  one,  which 


CONTEXT.  177 

tliey  make  their  exclusive  subject,  not  bestowing 
on  the  connection  a  word  of  notice, — unless  they 
have  been  hurried  in  their  2:)reparations,  and  find 
it  convenient  to  talk  a  little  round  it^  in  an  ex- 
tempore introduction.  What  would  we  think 
if  we  heard  any  other  book  pr^ected  on  in  this 
way — a  treatise  on  medicine,  for  instance,  or  on 
morals  ?  or,  what  would  we  think  of  a  judge 
expounding  in  this  way  a  legal  statute  ?  The 
civil  law  has  laid  down  an  express  canon  on 
the  subject  with  some  tartness,  as  if  indignant 
at  the  idea  of  such  a  practice:  ^' Tiirpe  est  de 
lege  judicare,  tota  lege  non  inspecta."  Ministers 
are  often  heard  to  chide  their  people  sharply,  for 
the  careless  and  unprofitable  way  in  which  they 
read  the  word  of  God  ;  but  they  would  do  well 
to  ask,  whether  they  are  not  themselves  to  blame 
in  forming  them  to  such  wretched  habits  of  pe- 
rusing it.  When  his  Reverence  appears  before 
the  people  month  after  month,  without  in  a 
single  instance,  perhaps,  explaining  the  design, 
coherence,  and  argument  of  a  paragraph  con- 
taining only  six  verses,  it  is  really  too  much  to 
expect  that  honest  John  will  spend  his  Sabbath 
9 


178  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

evenings  in  supplying  the  pastor's  lack  of  ser- 
vice. 

The  same  evil  prevails  in  the  domain  of  con- 
troversial theology.  Many  allow  themselves  to 
be  captivated  by  the  mere  sound  of  a  phrase. 
It  seems  to  suit  their  purpose  in  an  argument ; 
incontinently  they  detach  it  from  the  paragraph 
to  which  it  belongs,  dress  it  up  in  high-sounding 
paraphrase,  and  send  it  forth  "  to  root  out,  pull 
down  and  destroy"  every  thing  that  opposes. 
Examples  without  number  could  be  given  from 
the  writings  of  all  religious  parties,  even  our 
own;  for  that  many  passages  which  Calvinists 
quote  are  utterly  irrelevant,  the  slightest  exam- 
ination shows.  An  instance  of  this  is  the  cele- 
brated declaration  in  Jeremiah  xxxi.  3  :  "  I  have 
loved  thee  with  everlasting  love,  therefore  with 
loving-kindness  have  I  drawn  thee,"  which  may 
be  more  properly  translated  thus, 

In  days  of  old  have  I  loved  thee, 

Therefore  will  I  prolong  my  goodness  to  thee, 

God  is  here  assuring  the  ten  tribes  of  deliver- 
ance and  protection,  on  account  of  the  love  he 
bore   them   in   former  times,  when   with    out- 


CONTEXT,  79 

stretclied  arm  lie  brouo;Lt  them  from  the  land 
of  Egypt.  Nothing  is  said  of  the  eternity  of  his 
pm-poses,  or  their  accomplishment  in  the  con- 
version of  the  elect ;  if  applied  to  this  subject, 
it  must  be  in  the  way  of  pious  accommodation. 
The  same  is  true  of  another  favorite  passage, 
Matthew  xxii.  14 :  "  Many  are  called,  but  few 
are  chosen."  The  whole  context  and  scope 
shows  that  the  Redeemer  is  not  speaking  of  sov- 
ereign election,  but  rather  stating  the  fact,  that 
while  all  are  invited  to  the  Gospel  feast,  there 
are  com23aratively  few  admitted,  in  consequence 
of  neglecting  to  secure  the  necessary  qualifica- 
tions. 

On  the  other  hand,  our  Arminian  brethren 
quote,  with  as  little  shadow  of  reason,  1  Cor- 
inthians xii.  T,  to  prove  universal  grace.  The 
proposition  that  "  a  dispensation  of  the  spirit  is 
given  to  every  man  to  profit  ^vithal,"  sounds  in- 
deed bravely.  But  the  sound  is  all ;  the  whole 
argument  shows  that  the  Apostle  is  speaking  of 
supernatural  gifts  of  the  spirit,  and  is  address- 
ing church-members  exclusively. 

When  we  apply  our  Rule  to  interpretation, 


180  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

some  caution  is  necessary  in  consequence  of  the 
context  being  occasionally  broken  by  a  paren- 
thesis. In  the  New  Testament  these  are  very 
frequent,  especially  with  Paul,  whose  impetuous 
genius  often  starts  aside  to  embody  a  vivid  concep- 
tion or  glowing  sentiment  that  suddenly  kindled 
in  his  mind,  and  which  he  did  not  allow  himself 
leisure  to  weave  into  the  general  texture  of  his 
discourse.  We  have  a  beautiful  example  in  2 
Timothy  i.  16,  18,  where  the  short  prayer  in 
the  beginning  of  the  18th  verse  is  evidently  an 
extempore  burst  of  grateful  emotion,  and  the 
words  must  be  enclosed  in  brackets  :  "  But  when 
Onesiphorus  was  in  Rome,  he  sought  me  out 
very  diligently  and  found  me,  {the  Lord  grant 
unto  him  that  he  may  find  mercy  of  the  Lord  in 
that  day^  and  in  how  many  things  he  minis- 
tered to  me  at  Ephesus,  thou  knowest  very 
well."  A  more  striking  instance  is  in  Ephesians 
iii.,  where  the  first  and  fourteenth  verses  must 
be  imrnediately  united,  the  parenthesis  consist- 
ing of  not  less  than  thirteen. 

Attention    to    this    wonderfully   enlightens 
some  of  his  dark  sayings ;  among  others,  that 


CONTEXT.  181 

in  1  Timothy  v.  23  :  "  Drink  no  longer  water,  but 
use  a  little  wine  for  thy  stomach's  sake  and  thine 
often  infirmities."  The  Apostle  is  in  the  midst 
of  a  solemn  and  weighty  exhortation  to  Tim- 
othy, in  relation  to  ordaining  candidates  for  the 
ministry.  In  the  22d  verse  he  says,  "  Lay  hands 
suddenly  on  no  man,  neither  be  partaker  of  oth- 
er men's  sins:  keep  thyself  pure."  In  the  24th 
he  carries  out  the  thought,  stating  that  some 
men's  disqualifications  were  open  and  manifest 
to  all ;  others'  were  more  secret,  and  followed  af- 
ter them.  There  is  thus  a  comj^lete  connection 
between  the  22d  and  24th  verses ;  and  the  ques- 
tion rises,  how  the  Apostle  comes  to  press  the 
matter  of  wine-drinking  directly  between  the 
two,  when  the  thou2:ht  was  so  foreio:n  to  his 
whole  subject  ?  It  is  manifestly  a  parenthesis. 
In  the  midst  of  his  directions  concerning  ordi- 
nation, he  remembers  that  his  young  friend  was 
of  feeble  constitution,  and  liable  to  severe  at- 
tacks of  dyspepsia.  It  is  in  his  mind  to  pre- 
cribe  a  glass — not  of  syrup,  but  of  good,  gener- 
ous wine,  which  is  known  to  possess  great  virtue 
in  such  complaints.     No  sooner  thought  than 


182  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

done.  Without  losing  a  moment,  lie  tosses  it 
into  tlie  middle  of  his  argument,  where  it  stands 
a  fine  specimen  of  the  noble  artlessness  of  the 
great  Apostle.  Dr.  Paley  builds  on  this  cir- 
cumstance a  strong  argument  for  the  authenticity 
of  the  epistle.  It  scarcely  would  have  entered 
the  mind  of  an  impostor  to  exhibit  Paul  as 
commending  wine  in  a  grave,  apostolical  epistle ; 
much  less  would  he  have  introduced  the  advice 
in  so  strange  and  improbable  a  manner. 


ETJLE   V. 


We  must  knotu  the  character,  age^  sect,  nation, 
and  other  peculiarities  of  the  ivriter.  Every  hu- 
man being  has  a  character — a  certain  something 
which  distinguishes  him  from  others,  giving  a 
hue  to  all  his  thoughts  and  modes  of  expressing 
them.  This  must  be  known,  in  order  to  his  be- 
ing understood.  The  inspired  writers  are  no 
exception  to  the  rule.  They  who  imagine  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  so  possessed  their  minds  that 
they  became  mere  automata  in  his  hands,  and 


CHARACTER,    ETC.,   OF    THE    WRITERS.         183 

poured  out  words  and  thoughts  as  they  were 
successively  poured  in — like  so  many  water- 
pipes  of  a  cistern,  betray  profound  ignorance  of 
the  subject.  Some  such  crude  fancies  were  en- 
tertained in  former  times,  and  are  probably  not 
extinct.  They  doubtless  originated  in  a  vague 
notion,  that  the  more  entirely  human  agency 
was  excluded  from  the  doctrine  of  inspiration, 
the  higher  honor  was  bestowed  on  the  Divine 
Spirit :  and  the  etymology  of  the  word  "  inspi- 
ration" had  also  its  effect.  It  originally  and 
properly  signified,  a  breathing  in^  and  suggested 
the  dark  and  mysterious  conception  of  an  effect 
produced  on  the  thinking  substance  of  a  man, 
not  unlike  the  inflation  of  a  bladder- — 

"magnam  cui  mentem  animumque, 
Delius  inspirat  vates." 

But  inspiration  has  nothing  in  common  with  its 
etymology:  it  simply  expresses  the  idea  of  su- 
pernatural assistance  and  guidance,  in  the  com- 
munication to  mankind  of  truths  previously 
unknown.  Those  who  were  honored  with  it 
were  enabled  to  speak,  act,  and  write  as  divine 
messengers.     Yet  they  were  not  puppets,  acted 


184  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

on  hy  a  physical  and  compelling  force  from 
without,  but  living,  personal  agents,  in  full  pos- 
session of  all  the  faculties  with  which  they  had 
been  endowed  by  their  Creator — with  percep- 
tion, memory,  consciousness,  will ;  and  the  en- 
ergy of  the  Holy  Ghost  wrought  no  greater  vio- 
lence on  tlieir  minds  in  the  exercise  of  these 
powers,  than  is  wrought  by  his  ordinary  opera- 
tion on  the  hearts  of  believers  in  every  age  of 
the  church. 

It  is  not  our  business  to  give  the  philosophy 
of  this  "  preestablished  harmony"  between  agen- 
cies so  different,  nor  to  speculate  on  the  mode 
in  which  they  were  combined  for  the  production 
of  a  single  result.  As  interpreters,  we  state  the 
fact — not  explain  it :  and  the  fact  certainly  is, 
that  no  men  are  more  distino^uished  from  each 
other  by  strong  mental  idiosyncrasies,  nor  any 
who  give  more  decided  evidence  that  their  own 
spirits  performed  an  imjiortant  office  in  compo- 
sition. In  the  author  of  the  book  of  Proverbs, 
we  see  before  us  the  grave,  sententious,  digni- 
fied monarch,  whose  profound  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  and  sparkling  gems  of  wisdom. 


CHARACTER,  ETC.,  OF    THE    WRITERS.        185 

made  his  name  celebrated  througliout  the  East. 
Amos  is  always  the  strong,  bold,  but  somewhat 
unpolished  herdsman  of  Tekoah.  The  vehement 
Ezekiel,  standing  with  dishevelled  hair  and  roll- 
ing eye,  in  the  midst  of  his  expressive  symbols, 
never  suffers  us  to  mistake  him  for  Isaiah,  the 
sublime,  imaginative,  tasteful  courtier  of  Heze- 
kiah.  The  same  with  the  plaintive,  tender  Jere- 
miah— the  contemplative  John — the  argumen- 
tative, glowing  Paul.  It  is  an  old,  but,  A^dth 
proper  explanation,  perfectly  true  remark,  origi- 
nally made  by  Jerome,  that  "  revelation  consists 
in  thought,  not  in  words  or  external  dress :  nee 
putemus  in  verbis  scripturam  evangelii  esse,  sed 
in  sensu."  We  insult  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  suppos- 
ing him  unable  to  accommodate  himself  to  the 
mode  of  thinking  and  phraseology  of  those 
whom  he  honored  with  his  influence — that  when 
he  made  the  prophet,  he  was  forced  to  unmake 
the  man. 

When  we  read  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
therefore,  we  must  remember  that  we  are  con- 
versing with  a  finished  gentleman  of  the  old 
school;    a  scholar  brought    up  at  the    feet  of 
9* 


186  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

Gamaliel,  a  powerful  but  a  rapid  reasoner,  de- 
lighting in  ellipses,  digressions,  repetitious,  bold 
figures,  and  pregnant  expressions  suggesting 
more  than  meets  the  ear — fond  of  illustrating 
his  subject  by  Old  Testament  ideas,  even  when 
he  intends  making  no  use  of  them  in  argument ; 
and  above  all,  that  we  are  conversing  with  him 
who,  more  than  any  other  apostle,  was  deeply 
penetrated  with  the  glorious  catholicity  and 
abounding  grace  of  the  Gospel !  In  reading 
James,  we  must  think  of  the  stern,  high-souled 
moralist,  in  whom  the  ethical  element  of  Chris- 
tianity seems  to  have  taken  the  deepest  root  ; 
who,  while  with  adoring  faith  he  beheld  "  the 
Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world," 
never  lost  from  his  view  the  awful  form  of  that 
"eternal  law,"  which  spoke  in  thunder  from 
Sinai,  and  yet  speaks  in  milder  tones,  though 
with  the  same  commanding  authority,  to  every 
child  of  Adam.  John,  in  his  writings,  seems  to 
be  still  clinging  to  his  Master's  bosom.  Love 
to  the  person  of  his  Redeemer  is  evidently  his 
engrossing  sentiment.  No  one  can  doubt,  apart 
from  every  argument  contained  in  other  parts 


CHARACTER,  ETC.,  OF    THE    WRITERS.  187 

of  Scripture,  that  John  believed  him  to  be  di- 
vine. His  glory  as  the  uncreated  Logos — that 
glory  which  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the 
world  was,  a  few  scattered  rays  of  which  had 
been  seen  through  the  veil  of  his  humiliation,  is 
the  great  thought  with  which  his  soul  holds 
constant  communion,  raised  above  every  other 
object— like  the  eagle  calmly  reposing  in  mid 
heaven,  and  gazing  at  the  sun  !  He  who  gives 
no  attention  to  these  things,  and  does  not  take 
pains  to  catch  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  the 
sacred  writers,  commits  the  same  kind  of  blun- 
der with  that  of  the  man  who  reads  Milton's 
Paradise  Lost,  and  Addison's  Essays  in  the 
Spectator,  yet  sees  no  difference  between  them 
except  in  the  length  of  the  lines. 

There  is  danger  of  overlooking  another  im- 
portant difference  between  the  sacred  writers 
in  the  measure  of  light  they  possessed,  not  only 
on  doctrinal  but  moral  subjects.  Many  are 
afraid  of  looking  at  this  fact  and  using  it  in  a 
free,  unfettered  way,  from  their  slavery  to  the 
crude  notion  referred  to  in  our  remarks  on  in- 
spiration.    It  is  viewed  by  them  as  something 


188  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

absolute^  not  capable  of  degrees  or  measurement, 
nor  having  any  relation  or  proportion  to  tlie 
time,  social  position,  and  other  circumstances  of 
the  individual.  Thus  they  will  not  scruple  to 
justify  the  base  treachery  of  Jael,  the  wife  of 
Heber,  because  Deborah  the  "prophetess"  ex- 
tols it  in  her  eucharistic  song  as  a  noble  exploit, — 
not  adverting  to  the  fact,  that  if  inspired  on  the 
occasion,  which  we  do  not  gainsay,  she  retained 
all  the  characteristics  of  her  countrymen,  their 
ideas  and  even  passions,  through  which  she  spoke 
to  the  national  heart  much  more  powerfully  than 
if  she  had  taught  ex-cathedra  the  purest  and 
most  exquisitely  refined  Christian  ethics.  There 
is  something  grotesque  in  the  supposition,  that 
the  divine  afflatus  lifted  her  from  her  true  place 
as  the  representative  woman  of  that  period, 
and  imparted  sentiments  which  had  not  been 
wrought  into  the  texture  of  society  ten  centu- 
ries after.  As  well  w^e  may  suppose  her  calling 
the  family  together  when  the  news  arrived  of 
Barak's  victory,  and  singing  one  of  Watts' 
hymns  to  a  modern  psalm  tune.  We  must  over- 
look her  comings  short  in  the  department  of 


CHARACTER,  ETC.,   OF    THE    WRITERS.         189 

the  higher  morals,  and  remember  that  she  was  a 
glorious  adaptation  to  the  epoch  in  which  she 
lived,  filling  her  niche  immeasurably  better  than 
if  she  had  reached  a  more  elevated  plane  of 
thinking. 

The  same  principle  must  be  applied  to  the 
imprecatory  prayers  in  the  book  of  Psalms,  and 
elsewhere.  Reverence  for  good  men,  whom  we 
believe  to  have  been  moved  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  should  not  stand  in  the  way  of  an  honest 
avowal,  that  however  in  keeping  with  the  bel- 
ligerent and  proscriptive  character  of  the  old 
ceconoray,  placed  as  it  was  by  divine  wisdom  in 
irreconcilable  feud  with  all  the  world,  they  indi- 
cate a  people  not  yet  emerged  from  a  state  of 
comparative  rudeness  and  semi-barbarism,  "I 
hate  them  with  perfect  hatred  ;  I  count  them  as 
enemies."  "  Let  the  iniquities  of  his  fathers  be 
numbered,  and  let  not  the  sin  of  his  mother  be 
blotted  out."  '^  Happy  shall  he  be  who  shall 
take  thy  little  ones  and  dash  them  against  the 
stones" — are  sentiments  that  now  would  not  be 
tolerated  by  any  assembly  within  the  bounds 
of  Christendom.     Whether  with  old  Glassius 


190  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

we  determine  them  to  be  simply  prophecies,  the 
imperative  being  used  for  the  future  indicative ; 
or  explain  them  as  bold  figures,  in  using  which 
the  Psalmist  goes  out  of  himself,  and  personates 
the  Deity  announcing  his  purpose  to  visit  sin 
upon  the  transgressor ;  or  hold  that  the  divine 
inspirer  did  not  choose  to  raise  the  human 
author  unnaturally  and  by  a  needless  anach- 
ronism above  the  time  in  which  he  lived,  which 
is  the  best  solution  ;  one  thing  is  clear,  that 
we  must  not  attempt  to  defend  them  as  le- 
gitimate expressions  of  Christian  feeling  under 
any  imaginable  circumstances.  Our  glorious 
religion  looks  back  with  something  like  wonder 
at  these  old,  "  beggarly  elements,"  from  which 
she  has  been  emancipated — breathing  a  spirit  of 
fine,  universal  humanity,  that  the  good  men  of 
former  times  little  thought  of  A  caution  on 
this  subject  is  not  superfluous ;  for  we  lately 
came  across  an  excellent  book,  newly  published, 
which  maintains  that  the  Old  Testament  impre- 
cations "  are  at  this  day  now  and  then  the  most 
appropriate  language  of  the  church — a  portion 
of  her  immutable  liturgy,  in  which  the  ethical 


CHARACTER,  ETC.,  OF    THE    WRITERS.         191 

want  finds  its  true  relief."  For  the  sake  of  his 
reputation,  we  hope  that  the  "nows  and  thens,'* 
when  the  able  but  somewhat  too  eloquent  wri- 
ter is  pressed  by  this  "ethical  want,"  are  very- 
far  apart.  Stephen  seems  to  have  used  a  very 
different  prayer-book,  and  so  did  the  Son  of  God 
upon  the  cross. 

It  is  important,  also,  to  note  the  different 
kinds  of  composition  employed.  Some  of  the 
writers  were  poets,  and  must  be  interpreted  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  poetry.  Their  bold 
tropes  must  not  be  turned  into  sober,  matter- 
of-fact  realities, — as  is  done  by  the  Millenarians, 
who  read  Isaiah  nearly  as  they  would  Black- 
stone's  Commentaries  on  the  British  Constitu- 
tion. Ezekiel  is  not  Luke, — nor  is  Matthew  the 
publican  David,  singing  one  of  the  sweet  odes 
of  Zion  to  the  music  of  his  harp.  Historians 
are  to  be  treated  as  historians,  not  as  po- 
ets, or  rhetoricians:  the  accounts  of  miracles 
given  in  our  four  Gospels,  must  therefore  be 
taken  to  the  letter.  No  books  in  the  world 
bear  more  decided  evidence  that  their  authors 
intended  to  give  simple  and  perspicuous  narra- 


192  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

tives  of  events  as  they  actually  occurred.  The 
principle  must  not  be  tolerated  for  a  moment,  of 
explaining  them  away,  by  doing  violence  to 
the  plain  meaning  of  language,  and  to  all  the 
laws  which  are  applied  to  other  historical  com- 
positions. Yet  it  has  been  sanctioned  by  great 
names,  especially  in  Germany.  Grave  divines 
are  found,  who  insist  that  there  is  not  one  mira- 
cle in  the  Gospels ;  the  events  which  seem  mi- 
raculous being  entirely  natural,  but  exaggerated 
and  embellished  by  the  warm  fancies  of  the 
people  among  whom  they  occurred.  Only  strip, 
they  say,  the  Evangelists  of  this  semi-poetic 
drapery,  and  the  business  of  exposition  will  go 
on  delightfully,  Moses  fares,  if  possible,  still 
worse ;  as  they  turn  him  into  an  allegorist,  or  re- 
citer of  mythological  fables.  The  first  ten  chap- 
ters of  Genesis  contain  about  as  large  a  body 
of  real  truth  as  can  pass  without  inconvenience 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle* — being  made  up  of 

*  The  number  of  honest. Christian  behevers  in  the  world,  com- 
pared with  that  of  heathen  and  those  among  us  who  despise  all 
religious  faith,  is  so  small,  that  we  are  strongly  tempted  to  keep 
many  often  ranked  in  tlie  class  alluded  to  within  the  pale,  and 
shall  therefore  offer  a  modest  apology  for  them.     The  notion  that 


CHARACTER,  ETC.,   OF    THE    WRITERS.         193 

old  stories  and  scraps  of  song,  which  mean  noth- 
ing, or  anything,  that  a  lively  fancy  may  snggest. 
The  Christian  student  need  not  take  great 
pains  to  refute  this  scarcely  disguised  infideli- 


there  are  representations  in  scripture  having  a  mythical  tinge,  that 
is  to  say,  representations  not  precisely  according  with  the  naked 
truth  of  things,  does  not  in  all  cases  determine  its  advocates  to  be 
non-believers,  though  we  may  apprehend  that  it  places  them  in  a 
false  position.  They  may  think  thus  :  Events  occurring  in  very 
ancient  times  among  a  people  not  far  advanced  in  science  and 
civiHzation,  and  with  whom  imagination  and  passion  predominate 
over  the  reason,— disposing  to  hyperbole,  and  other  vehement 
forms  of  expression,  are  never  recorded  with  the  dry  precision  of 
a  modern  statistician.  Not  being  written  down  at  the  time,  but 
committed  to  oral  tradition,  they  necessarily  assume  a  poetic  or 
semi-poetic  character,  not  only  for  the  reason  mentioned,  but  to 
assist  the  memory,  that  could  not  retain  a  large  accumulation  of 
facts  without  the  aid  of  melody  and  rhythm.  In  this  way,  the 
early  history  of  all  nations  that  possess  a  history  has  been  pre- 
served from  oblivion ;  and  they  see  no  reason  for  making  that  of 
the  Abrahamic  race  an  exception,  while  they  cordially  allow  the 
immeasurable  superiority  of  its  annals  to  those  of  every  other  peo- 
ple, in  consequence  of  the  special  care  extended  to  them  by  the 
supreme  Being,  who  had  great  purposes  to  execute  in  the  world 
by  this  remarkable  nation.  Accordingly  they  discover  something 
of  the  mythical,  in  other  words,  the  natural  and  human  element 
in  these  fascinating  old  narratives,  combined  with  all  the  sub- 
stantial truth  that  could  be  desired  ;  nor  do  they  find  any  difficul- 
ty in  drawing  from  them  the  highest  religious  profit,  though  scru- 
pling whether  a  serpent  spoke,  a  deluge  covered  the  tops  of  the 
highest  mountains,  the  causes  of  the  dispersion  of  mankind  were 
concentred  in  a  single  incident  at  Babel,  and  two  rival  nations 
had  quite  such  an  origin  as  the  history  of  Lot  ascribes  to  them, 


194  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

ty,  wliicli  does  not  openly  avow  itself  infidel, 
merely  because  its  advocates  earn  their  bread 
by  a  profession  of  Cliristianity  ;  the  most  of 
them  being  either  teachers  of  Christian  Theol- 
ogy, or  pastors  of   Christian  churches.      Such 

&G.  If  called  to  give  an  opinion  on  this  question,  we  would  think 
more  than  twice  or  three  times  before  subscribing  to  a  sentiment 
apparently  so  full  of  danger,  and  which,  if  it  does  not  attack  the 
citadel,  seems  to  take  away  one  of  its  outworks.  But  it  is  not 
necessarily  a  denial  of  the  faith,  and  its  advocates  should  be  rea- 
soned with  calmly  and  fraternally,  as  men  unfortunate  in  not 
standing  on  the  higher  ground,  but  who  in  other  respects  may  be 
as  good  Christians  as  ourselves,  and  therefore  not  to  be  pushed 
down  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  It  is  easy  to  make  a  man  an 
infidel  by  stoutly  insisting  that  he  is  one, — as  animals  are  occasion- 
ally made  rabid  by  frightened  people,  who  raise  the  cry  on  them, 
which  it  would  seem  that  the  unfortunates  soon  believe  in,  them- 
selves, and  become  what  others  think  them.  The  design  of  these 
remarks  is  not  to  retract  a  syllable  of  what  is  said  in  the  text,  but 
simply  qualify  it  by  the  concession,  that  some  whom  we  may 
suspect  of  a  tendency  to  the  way  of  thinking  condemned,  but 
who  abhor  the  length  to  which  it  is  carried,  are  not  to  be  sum- 
marily dealt  with,  or  have  their  memories  refreshed  with  cer- 
tain clauses  of  the  Athanasian  creed.  It  is  a  good  rule,  that  the 
young  interpreter  must  not  allow  himself  to  be  easily  panic-strick- 
en, or  to  brand  as  fatal  heresy  every  deviation  from  traditional  ideas, 
even  though  he  fears  that  it  may  lead  to  consequences  far  from 
harmless.  We  all  have  our  mental  idiosyncrasies  and  standing- 
ground,  which  it  would  not  be  safe  to  take  away  from  us.  An 
opinion  (we  speak  of  non-fundamentals)  may  be  very  bad  for  me, 
and  yet  necessary  to  save  the  soul  of  my  neighbor, — as  the  same 
drug  sends  one  man  to  his  grave,  and  almost  raises  another  out 
of  it.     Both  pulpit  and  writing-desk  often  forget  this  caution. 


COMMON    SENSE.  195 

interpretations  do  not  deserve  the  name.  They 
are  feats  of  jugglery  and  legerdemain,  and  their 
authors,  by  their  irreverence  for  things  sacred, 
show  that  they  are  not  over-burdened  with  that 
rationalism  to  which  they  make  pretension.  The 
true  rationalist  always  trembles  when  he  stands, 
or  even  suspects  that  he  stands,  in  the  presence 
of  God !  He  cannot  trifle  with  such  a  book  as 
the  Bible !  He  cannot  sport  with  a  volume,  the 
falsehood  of  which,  if  proved,  turns  him  over 
to  the  beasts,  and  deprives  him  of  his  last  stake, 
as  a  candidate  for  the  glories  of  immortality. 


BULE   VI. 


In  expounding  Scripture,  let  there  he  a  con- 
stant appeal  to  the  tribunal  of  common  sense. 
Language  is  not  the  invention  of  metaphysicians, 
or  convocations  of  the  wise  and  learned.  It  is 
the  common  blessing:  of  mankind,  framed  for 
their  mutual  advantaore  in  their  intercourse  with 
each  other.  Its  laws,  therefore,  are  popular,  not 
philosophical  —  being   founded  on  the   general 


196  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

laws  of  tliouglit  whicli  govern  tlie  whole  mass 
of  mind  in  the  community.  Now,  however  men 
may  differ  from  each  other,  there  are  certain 
universal  notions,  plain  and  obvious  principles 
of  knowledge,  according  to  which  speech  is  reg- 
ulated :  when  we  try  a  work  by  these,  we  bring 
it  to  the  standard  of  "  common  sense." 

There  is  occasion  for  it  every  moment.  Scarcely 
will  we  hear  in  a  long  and  serious  conversation 
between  the  best  speakers,  a  sentence  which 
does  not  need  some  modification  or  limitation, 
in  order  that  we  may  not  attribute  to  it  more 
or  less  than  was  intended.  Nor  is  the  operation 
at  all  difficult.  We  make  the  correction  in- 
stantly, with  so  little  cost  of  thought,  that  we 
would  be  tempted  to  call  it  instinct,  if  we  did 
not  know  that  many  of  our  perceptions,  which 
seem  intuitive,  are  the  work  of  habit  and  educa- 
tion. It  woukl  be  an  exceedingly  strange  thing 
if  the  Bible,  the  most  popular  of  all  books,  com- 
posed by  men  for  the  most  part  taken  from  the 
multitude,  addressed  to  all,  and  on  subjects 
equally  interesting  to  all,  were  found  written  in 
language  to  be  interpreted  on  different  princi- 


COMMON    SENSE.  197 

pies.  But,  in  poiut  of  fact,  it  is  not.  Its  style 
is  eminently,  and  to  a  remarkable  degree,  tliat 
which  we  would  expect  to  find  in  a  volume  de- 
signed by  its  gracious  Author  to  be  the  peopled 
book — abounding  in  all  those  kinds  of  inaccuracy 
which  are  sprinkled  through  ordinary  discourse, 
h3q:)erboles,  enallages,  and  loose  catechrestical 
expressions,  whose  meaning  no  one  mistakes, 
though  their  deviation  from  plurtib^  occasionally 
makes  the  small  critic  sad.  In  such  cases  we 
reject  everything  incompatible  with  evident 
truth ;  assuming  that  the  Bible  could  never  in- 
tend to  contradict  our  reason,  or  teach  in  any 
possible  case  that  two  and  two  are  five.  We 
shall  give  a  few  illustrations. 

1st.  It  never  teaches  doctrines  refuted  by  the 
testimony  of  the  senses.  Thus,  when  David  says 
that  "  he  is  poured  out  like  water,  and  all  his 
bones  are  out  of  joint,  that  his  heart  is  melted 
in  the  midst  of  his  bowels,"  we  perceive  instantly 
that  a  literal  pouring  out  and  melting  cannot 
be  meant,  as  nothing  of  the  kind  has  been  ever 
witnessed.  When  the  Redeemer,  in  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Supper,  declares  of  the  bread,  that 


198  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

it  is  liis  body ;  and  of  the  wine,  that  it  is  his 
blood,  we  necessarily  understand  him  to  be 
speaking  figuratively  and  symbolically.  My 
senses  distinctly  see,  taste,  smell,  and  feel,  that 
the  sacramental  elements  are  nothing  but  real 
bread  and  wine.  If  the  Scriptures  really  taught 
the  popish  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  they 
would  declare  a  falsehood,  which  would  be  quite 
sufficient  by  itself  to  destroy  their  authority. 
The  principle  of  believing  a  doctrine  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  clear  evidence  of  the  senses, 
is  destructive  of  all  evidence.  If  my  senses  may 
deceive  me,  how  shall  I  convince  myself  that  I 
ever  saw  a  book  called  the  Bible,  or  read  it,  or 
ever  heard  of  such  a  being  as  Jesus  Christ? 
The  delusion  practised  on  me  at  the  Lord's  table, 
whei'e  I  am  eating  and  drinking  the  real  body 
and  blood  of  a  dead  man,  while  tasting  and 
smelling  bread  and  wine,  may  be  part  of  a  most 
extensive  scheme  of  imposture,  to  which  no  lim- 
its can  be  assigned. 

2d.  Its  statements  must  he  compared  with  the 
'results  of  experience  and  observation.  No  one 
who  reads  the  command,  "Be  perfect,  even  as 


COMMON    SENSE.  199 

your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect,"  with  reference 
at  the  same  time  to  the  state  of  the  world  in  all 
ages,  can  deny  that  it  is  to  be  taken  with  a  grain 
of  allowance.  Let  ns  aim  at  perfection,  but  not 
dream  of  attaining  it— experience  amply  proving 
that  there  is  no  man  who  sinneth  not.  In  Mat- 
thew X.  34j  Christ  tells  his  disciples,  that  "he 
came  not  to  send  peace  on  earth,  but  a  sword." 
History  is  the  best  commentary  on  this  some- 
what harsh  expression.  The  Gospel  occasioned 
discords  in  families  and  nations,  by  inducing 
some  to  accept  its  guidance,  while  others  rejected 
it :  these  frequently  led  to  persecutions,  which 
w^ere  the  sword  alluded  to  in  the  text. 

3d.  Passages  must  be  harmonized  with  estab- 
lished facts  in  scieiice.  Truth  is  always  in  ac- 
cordance with  herself  Her  two  great  books, 
Nature  and  Revelation,  cannot  be  at  variance, 
though  the  latter  seldom  trims  her  phraseology 
into  conformity  with  the  starched  definitions  of 
science ;  for  which  every  man  of  taste  and  dis- 
cernment likes  her  the  better.  The  expressions 
therefore  which  represent  the  earth  as  at  rest — 
as  being  huilt  on  the  waters — as  having  hounds 


'^00  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

and  limits — aucl  tlie  suii  as  movmg  round  it — are 
not  to  be  l^rouglit  in  collision  ^vitli  astronomy. 
Tlie  representations  of  God  as  coming  to  a  place 
— deserting  it  —  asking  questio7is — grieving — re- 
penting— must  be  explained  consistently  with 
the  first  elements  of  natural  religion,  which  teach 
that  he  is  a  pure  Spirit,  omnipresent,  all-know- 
ing, and  above  all  change  or  perturbation. 
Lactantius,  a  Latin  Father,  must  have  lost  his 
compass  entirely,  when  he  undertook  to  prove 
from  the  Scriptures  that  God  has  passions — thus 
contradicting  a  plain  and  evident  j^rinciple  of 
reason. 

Whether  the  sacred  interpreter  will  be  re- 
quired to  modify  the  old  expositions  of  the  first 
twenty  verses  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  in 
conformity  with  the  decisions  of  Geology,  is,  in 
the  advanced  and  advancing  state  of  that  sci- 
ence, not  difiicult  to  answer.  The  proof  of  our 
earth  having  existed  long  before  the  creation  of 
man,  and  of  a  succession  of  mighty  changes  hav- 
ing occurred  which  required  ages  to  their  com- 
pletion, rests  on  so  many  well  established  facts, 
that  it  would  be  sheer  folly  and  absurdity  to 


COMMON    SENSE.  v        201 

deny  the  conclusion — especially  when  the  pas- 
sage admits  of  no  less  than  t^YO  constructions 
in  perfect  harmony  with  it.  God  never  inspired 
men  to  teach  their  fellow-men  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences, nor  did  he  ever  furnish  those  whom  he 
inspired  for  other  purposes  with  a  single  scien- 
tific fact  above  the  level  of  their  age.  Their 
mission  was  to  impart  moral  and  religious  truth  : 
in  all  other  respects  they  thought  with  the  vul- 
gar, and  with  the  vulgar  they  spake.  Had  it 
been  otherwise,  Keligion  would  have  suffered  a 
calamity,  instead  of  gaining  a  vantage-ground. 
It  would  have  lost  its  virgin  sanctity  and  eleva- 
tion above  the  smoke  and  stir  of  earthly  pur- 
suits ;  it  would  have  been  mixed  up  with  the 
endless  revolutions  and  vicissitudes  which  sci- 
ence has  experienced  in  different  ages ;  and  the 
human  mind,  chained  down  to  a  blind,  unreason- 
ing faith,  would  have  lost  every  motive  to  the 
vigorous  exertion  of  its  excellent  and  almost 
divine  faculties.  Nor  is  this  all.  Had  the  ideas 
of  the  sacred  writers  l^een  in  advance  of  those 
entertained  by  their  contemj)oraries,  they  would 
not  have  been  understood — or  if  understood, 
10 


202  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

excited  only  wonder  and  ridicule ;  in  which  case, 
scant  favor  would  have  been  shown  to  their 
higher  revelations. 

Happily,  they  are  relieved  from  all  responsi- 
bility by  the  wise  arrangement,  which  has  com- 
mitted the  book  of  creation  into  the  hands  of 
other  servants.  Men  of  science  (if  it  be  true 
science)  are  the  apostles  of  nature ;  whose  an- 
nouncements are  entitled  to  the  same  confidence 
which  we  profess  toward  the  apostles  of  grace. 
The  expression  is  not  too  strong.  We  affirm, 
that  the  truths  daily  elicited  by  the  crucible, 
the  telescope,  and  the  air-pump,  the  galvanic 
pile,  and  the  geologist's  hammer,  are  perfectly 
independent  of  anything  laid  down  in  the  Bible ; 
and  must  not  be  sacrificed  to  any  pretended 
necessity  of  giving  it  a  meaning  at  variance  with 
these  truths.  If  Paul  were  on  earth,  and  as- 
serted that  water  was  a  simple  and  homogeneous 
substance,  we  should  not  believe  him,  though 
he  accompanied  his  assertion  with  a  miracle — 
because  no  miracle  would  Ije  so  great  as  that 
which  he  requires  us  to  believe,  viz.,  that  a 
substance  is  simple,  which  the  chemist  has  proved 


COMMON    SENSE.  203 

to  be  a  compound,  by  actually  reducing  it  to  its 
elements  and  forming  it  out  of  tliem  hefore  our 
eijes !  Nothing  then  can  be  more  ill-judged 
than  taking  advantage  of  a  few  artless  exj^res- 
sions  of  the  sacred  writers,  so  redolent  of  their 
simple  age,  and  entirely  beyond  the  circle  of 
their  inspired  ideas,  to  raise  the  hue  and  cry  of 
"infidelity"  against  those  who,  independently 
of  Scripture,  but  with  unfeigned  respect  for  its 
religious  authority,  pursue  their  inquiries  into 
nature.  Nothing  also  is  more  mischievous ;  for 
it  generates  the  very  infidelity  which  excites  so 
much  apparent  alarm. 

Great  allowance,  however,  should  be  made 
for  religious  teachers.  The  important  and  spir- 
itual duties  of  their  calling  allow  little  time  for 
excursions  into  other  men's  fields  of  labor ;  and 
consequently,  in  secular  branches  of  knowledge, 
they  are  apt  to  be  found  lagging  behind  the 
age.  Now  it  is  extremely  difficult  for  such,  to 
feel  the  whole  force  of  a  scientific  statement. 
We  may  yawningly  admit  it :  but  the  belief  is 
not  a  necessity^  and  a  fate  to  which  we  submit 
as  to  the  great  law  of  death.     Hence,  when  the 


204  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

announcement  seems  to  oppose  some  of  our 
time-liallowed  j^rejudices,  we  refuse  all  compro- 
mise ;  and  proceed  to  denounce  it  with  tlie 
thundering  energy  of  a  man  who  has  detected 
a  black  consj)iracy  to  rob  him  of  his  Bible. 

4.  The  Bible  cannot  he  at  issue  with  any  of 
our  intuitive  moral  judgments.  If  it  recom- 
mends the  "  cutting  off  a  right  hand  and  pluck- 
ing out  a  right  eye,"  it  must  not  be  taken  to 
mean  bodily  mutilation.  Our  life  and  members 
are  a  sacred  trust  committed  to  us,  which  we  dare 
not  trifle  with.  When  Christ  says,  "  If  any 
man  hate  not  his  father  and  mother  and  wife 
and  children,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple,"  he  is 
using  a  strong  hyperbole  to  denote  the  greater 
love  which  we  should  bear  himself.  Our  moral 
sense  revolts  at  the  idea  of  hatred  to  parents, 
and  no  exposition  can  be  tolerated  that  would 
sanction  a  feeling  so  detestable.  In  Luke  x.  4, 
he  commands  his  disciples  "  not  to  salute  (dur- 
ing one  of  their  missionary  journeys)  any  by 
the  way," — a  precept  which  our  Quaker  breth- 
ren obey  to  the  letter.  But  Christ  could 
never   have    intended   to   inculcate    rudeness ; 


COMMON    SENSE.  205 

it  must  therefore  mean,  "  Do  not  lose  time 
by  holding  unnecessary  intercourse  with  your 
friends ;  use  all  expedition  in  journeying  to 
the  scene  of  your  labors."  Equally  absurd 
is  their  well  known  exposition  of  the  precept, 
"  When  smitten  on  the  one  cheek,  turn  the 
other  also  ;"  as  if  the  Saviour  disapproved  of 
self-defence. 

On  a  similar  princij^le,  we  explain  those  pas- 
sages which  exhibit  the  prophets  as  doing  by 
command  of  God,  things  inconsistent  with  natu- 
ral propriety.  Hosea,  for  example,  is  com-* 
manded  to  marry  two  impure  women  ;  Ezekiel 
to  lie  on  his  left  side  a  year  and  a  month,  look- 
ing at  an  iron  pan — then  turn  over  to  his  right 
side,  on  which  he  must  lie  forty  additional  days 
— eating  during  the  whole  period  a  compost  of 
lentiles,  beans,  barley,  millet,  and  fitches,  pre- 
pared in  a  manner  most  decidedly  offensive. 
We  affirm  boldly,  that  the  expositors  who  con- 
sider these  and  others  which  might  be  men- 
tioned, as  real  transactions,  dishonor  the  word 
of  God,  while  they  betray  a  want  of  taste  that 
is  astounding.      Beyond  all  doubt,  they  were 


206  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

symbolical  representations  that  passed  before 
the  Prophet's  miud  in  his  inspired  ecstacy. 

The  rule  under  our  notice,  requiring  us  to 
try  expressions  by  the  standard  of  common 
sense,  is  of  great  use  in  explaining  a  class  of 
propositions  very  frequent  in  Scripture,  which 
seem  to  have  no  limit  in  theii*  application,  but 
must  be  restricted  by  the  mind  of  the  reader. 
They  are  thrown  out  by  the  writer  with  the 
noble  carelessness  of  one  who  takes  a  strong 
view  of  a  subject,  and  determines  to  strike  with 
it — not  caring  for  the  great  swarm  of  little  huts 
that  invariably  rise  before  the  mind  of  a  feeble 
thinker,  and  darken  the  principal  idea.  We 
shall  add  a  few  examples. 

Absolute  expressions  often  denote  only  what 
usually  takes  place.  Solomon  tells  us  in  Pro- 
verbs xxii.  6,  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he 
should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  de- 
part from  it."  This  is  not  always  true :  Odd 
as  it  may  seem,  Solomon  himself  was  an  excep- 
tion. Yet  it  is  true  generally :  a  wise  and  pious 
education  gives  good  reason  to  expect  the  divine 
blessing.     Sometimes  they  only  denote  the  ten- 


COMMON    SENSE.  20T 

dency  of  a  thing.  Pro  verbs  xv.  1,  "A  soffc 
answer  turnetli  away  wratli."  It  is  calculated 
to  produce  this  happy  effect.  Paul  declares 
that  the  "  goodness  of  God  leadeth  to  repent- 
ance." With  submission  to  the  Apostle — not 
always.     Too  often  it  corrupts  and  hardens. 

At  other  times  they  only  indicate  duty — 
right — official  obligation.  Thus  Solomon  says, 
Proverbs  xvi.  10,  "A  divine  sentence  is  in  the 
lips  of  the  king,  his  mouth  transgresseth  not  in 
judgment."  Peter  in  like  manner  says  of  the 
civil  magistrate,  "  He  is  the  minister  of  God  for 
good,  a  terror  to  evil  workers,  and  a  praise  to 
them  that  do  well."  Such  declarations  show 
what  he  is  de  jure :  the  de  facto  is  quite  anoth- 
er question,  as  Peter  himself  experienced  shortly 
after  ;  being  put  to  death  by  one  of  these  divine 
ministers  in  the  most  cruel  manner.  The  same 
principle  we  aj^ply  to  those  statements  which 
exhibit  the  Redeemer  as  dying  for  "  all " — for 
"  every  man  " — for  the  "  sins  of  the  world." 
They  contain  a  precious  charter  of  privilege — 
right — and  consequent  obligation  to  accept  him. 
He  is  by  office  the  world'' s  saviour:    all  may 


208  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

enjoy  the  blessings  which  he  hath  purchased, 
and  are  excluded  simply  by  unbelief. 

Occasionally,  we  find  assertions  broadly  made 
that  refer  only  to  external  character  and  profes- 
sion. Paul  describes  apostates  as  counting  "  the 
blood  of  the  covenant  'wherewith  they  were 
sanctified,  an  unholy  thing."  They  were  so  in 
appearance.  Having  avowed  their  attachment 
before  the  church  and  the  world,  they  were 
recognized  as  true  disciples  and  heirs  of  the 
promise.  Yet  of  such,  another  Apostle  declares, 
' '  They  went  out  from  us  because  they  were  not 
of  us :  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they  never 
would  have  departed."  So,  all  credible  profes- 
sors are  called  "saints"  and  "holy."  The 
sacred  writers  always  treat  them  as  being  what 
they  ought  to  be.  This  practice  of  naming 
things  from  their  appearance  is  quite  common. 
The  imj^ostor  Hananiah,  for  instance,  is  called 
in  Jeremiah  xxviii.  1,  a  "  Prophet."  False  pre- 
tenders to  piety  are,  in  Matthew  ix.  13,  called 
righteous :  "I  am  not  come  to  call  the  righteous 
but  sinners  to  repentance."  Paul,  in  1  Corin- 
thians i.  21,  names  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 


COMMON    SENSE.  209 

"  foolisliness,"  because  it  was  thought  such  by 
the  haughty  Greek. 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  propositions 
stated  absolutely,  must  be  limited.  Indeed,  so 
various  are  they,  that  no  definite  rule  can  be 
laid  down  which  will  apply  to  every  case  :  each 
should  receive  the  modification  dictated  by  com- 
mon sense.  The  precept,  for  instance,  requiring 
us  "  not  to  revenge  ourselves,"  forbids  the  tak- 
ing private  vengeance,  not  judicial  punishment. 
Christ,  in  Matt.  v.  33,  commands  us  to  "  swear 
not."  The  connection  shows  us  that  he  refers 
to  unnecessary  and  extrajudicial  oaths ;  but,  in- 
dependently of  arguments  from  the  context,  we 
might  safely  assume  that  he  never  could  have 
intended  to  nullify  an  institution  almost  coeval 
with  the  human  race,  and  which  he  sanctioned 
by  personal  example.  We  are  commanded  in 
like  manner  to  ' '  take  no  thought  for  the  mor- 
row " — to  "judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged  " 
— to  "  pray  without  ceasing  " — expressions  which 
it  is  scarcely  possible  to  misunderstand — though 
it  would  not  be  safe  to  stake  much  on  the  asser- 
tion ;  many  betraying  a  perversity  of  thinking 
10* 


210  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

where  Scripture  is  concerned,  that  on  any  other 
subject  would  be  ludicrous.  The  Wrongheads 
in  theology  are  still  a  numerous  generation, 
though  we  hope  decreasing. 


EULE   t^II. 

Study  attentively  the  tropes  afid  figures  of  the 
sacred  writings.  These  are  deviations  from  nat- 
ural simplicity  of  expression;  one  idea  being 
substituted  for  another,  and  made  to  rej)resent 
it  on  the  ground  of  some  relation  between  them ; 
as  when  I  call  a  warrior  a  lion ;  compare  the 
march  of  an  undisciplined  army  to  the  flight  of 
a  noisy  flock  of  cranes,  or  address  a  dead  or 
absent  person  as  if  possessing  life.  They 
abound  in  all  languages,  and  in  many  instances 
are  the  very  language  of  nature.  The  least 
excitement  of  feeling  impels  a  man  of  ordinary 
fancy  to  express  his  thought,  not  by  the  word 
directly  appropriated  to  it,  but  hj  some  acces- 
sory idea,  which  he  prefers  on  account  of  its 
greater  vivacity  and  beauty.     Thus,  old  age  is 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  211 

the  evening  of  life  ;  youth  the  7norning  ;  error 
is  blindness  ;  a  great  statesman  the  pillar  of  the 
commonwealth.  The  fields  smile — the  stones 
cry  mit — the  heavens  weep.  No  one  fails  to 
perceive  the  superior  liveliness  and  brilliancy 
of  such  modes  of  expression. 

Nor  will  their  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
Bible  surprise  us,  when  we  consider  that  much 
of  it  is  poetry,  and  its  birth-place  the  imagina- 
tive East.  Its  figures  are  not  only  numerous, 
but  exceedingly  bold — sometimes  even  startling 
to  an  occidental  ear  and  a  taste  formed  on  clas- 
sic models.  "  The  blood  of  Abel  cries  from  the 
ground."  "  God  makes  drunk  his  arrows  with 
blood."  "  The  heavens  celebrate  the  praises  of 
Jehovah."  "  The  floods  clap  their  hands."  "  When 
Israel  came  out  of  Egypt,  the  sea  saw  it  and 
fled,  Jordan  was  driven  back,  the  mountains 
skipped  like  rams,  and  the  little  hills  like  lambs." 
Such  is  the  glowing  language  that  meets  us  in 
every  page,  and  justifies  the  remark  that  it  is 
by  far  the  richest  volume  of  fancy  in  our  litera- 
ture. The  tropes  which  occur  most  frequently, 
are  the  following  : — 


212  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

1.  Metonymy.  This  denotes  the  substitution 
of  one  word  for  another,  where  the  thoughts  are 
closehj  conjoined  and  rise  up  together  in  the 
mind,  though  there  be  no  proper  resemblance 
between  them.  Such  are  the  ideas  of  cause 
and  effect  —  subject  and  attribute  —  container 
and  contained — sign  and  thing  signified. 

The  cause  is  put  for  the  effect.  Thus,  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  j)ut  for  the  gifts  and  influence  of 
the  Spirit.  1  Thess.  v.  19,  "Quench  not  the 
Spirit."  Luke  xi.  13,  "How  much  more  shall 
your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
them  that  ask  him."  Rev. i.  10,  "I  was  in  the 
spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,"  i.  e.,  a  state  of  mind 
caused  by  the  Spirit.  In  the  same  sense  Jesus 
was  "  led  by  the  spirit  into  the  wilderness  to 
be  tempted  of  the  devil:"  he  went  there,  under 
a  divine  prompting  and  imjDulse.  Parents  are 
sometimes  put  for  their  posterity,  as  Judah  for 
the  Jews ;  and  in  Ezek.  xxxiv.  23,  David  is  used 
for  Messiah,  his  promised  son  and  successor  to 
his  throne :  "  I  will  set  up  one  shepherd  over 
them,  and  he  shall  feed  them,  even  my  servant 
DavidJ^     Frequently  the  converse  of  our  rule 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  213 

takes  place — tlie  effect  being  put  for  the  cause. 
Christ  is  called  "  our  life,"  because  he  is  its 
author.  "  He  is  made  of  God  unto  us  wisdom, 
righteousness,  sanctification,  and  redemption:" 
e.  i.,  God  has  constituted  him  the  source  of  all 
those  blessings.  In  Hebrews  vi.  1,  the  Apostle 
calls  sinful  works  "  dead."  In  what  sense  are 
they  dead  ?  Some  reply,  because  they  have  no 
moral  principle  or  vitality  in  them :  but  this  is 
too  weak.  They  are  probably  so  called,  meto- 
nymically,  because  they  lead  to  death.  In  Kom. 
vii.  7,  Paul  asks,  "  Is  the  law  sin  ?"  he  means  to 
inquire  whether  it  produces  sin. 

The  container  is  put  for  the  contained.  A 
table  denotes  the  food  placed  on  it :  "  Let  their 
table  become  a  snare."  A  cup  stands  for  the 
liquor  it  contains:  1  Cor.  x.  16,  "The  cup  of 
blessing  which  we  bless."  Heaven,  for  God 
himself.  Hence  the  often  recurring  phrase, 
"  kingdom  of  heaven,"  applied  to  the  new  dis- 
pensation of  Messiah.  There  is  no  direct  allu- 
sion in  it  to  the  heavenly  state,  but  simply  to 
its  divine  origin  :  in  other  places  it  is  expressly 
called  the  kingdom  of  God,  Matt.  xix.  24,  Luke 


214  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

xiii.  29.  House  signifies  the  famihj  residing  in 
it.  Gen.  vii.  1,  "  Enter  tliou  and  all  thy  house 
into  the  ark."  This  is  its  meaning  in  Ex.  i.  21, 
which  states  that  because  the  "  midwives  feared 
God,  he  made  them  houses."  If  the  idea  of 
giving  two  midwives  a  pair  of  houses  be  a  lit- 
tle odd,  there  is  nothing  strange  in  Divine 
Providence  rewarding  their  kindness  to  the 
families  of  his  people,  by  giving  them  large 
and  flourishing  families  of  their  own.  On  this 
use  of  the  word,  Paedobaptists  found  one  of 
their  strongest  arguments  for  infant  baptism. 
It  is  contended  that  the  "houses"  which  the 
Apostles  baptized,  must  have  included  all  of 
the  family,  young  as  well  as  old — such  being 
the  way  in  which  the  term  is  uniformly  em- 
ployed. 

The  sign  for  the  thing  signified ;  as  a  sceptre 
or  shepherd's  staff  for  power.  To  "lift  up  the 
hand"  is  to  swear:  "to  bow  the  knee"  is  to 
do  homage :  to  "  put  on  sackcloth  "  is  to  mourn. 
Baptism  is  by  a  like  metonymy  identified  with 
the  moral  renovation  which  it  symbolizes.  The 
neglect  of  this  figure  led  the  ancient  Fathers^ 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  216 

who  are  followed  by  many  in  the  present  day, 
to  hold  that  baptism  was  itself  regeneration — • 
founding  their  opinion  on  the  words  of  Christ 
to  Mcodemus,  ' '  except  a  man  be  born  of  water 
and  the  spirit,  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God ;"  and  the  language  of  Paul,  Tit.  iii.  5, 
"  he  saved  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration 
and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  From  these 
expressions  they  infer,  that  a  positive  renewing 
grace  is  actually  communicated  to  the  subject 
of  the  ordinance,  and  with  it  a  complete  for- 
giveness of  sin  previously  committed.  Were 
we  believers  in  this  doctrine,  we  should  spend 
a  considerable  part  of  our  time  in  marvelling 
at  the  singular  taste  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  who 
declined  administering  baptism,  except  in  a  few 
extraordinary  cases  ;  and  even  thanks  God  that 
he  had  regenerated  none  but  Crispus,  Gains,  and 
the  household  of  Stephanus,  1  Cor.  i.  16.  The 
same  Apostle,  however,  in  another  place,  ex- 
pressly claims  the  honor  of  having  begotten 
them,  though  he  had  no  agency  in  their  bap- 
tism; 1  Cor.  iv.  15,  "In  Christ  Jesus  I  have 
begotten  you  through  the  Gospel."      Equally 


216  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

strange  is  it,  tliat  om*  blessed  Lord  should  have 
declined  to  perform  a  rite  which,  for  the  stu- 
pendous effects  produced  by  it  on  the  corrupt 
and  darkened  mind,  infinitely  surpassed  all  his 
miracles  on  the  body  !  The  doctrine  seems,  on 
other  accounts  also,  really  incredible ;  and  we 
deem  it  far  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
moral  renovation  is  coupled  with  baptism  in 
the  passages  quoted  above,  because  of  the  sacra- 
mental and  symbolical  relation  between  them. 
As  in  Acts  vii.  8,  circumcision  is  called  the 
"  Covenant,"  because  it  was  the  sign  of  the 
Covenant:  so  baptism  is  the  "washing  of  re- 
generation," because  it  is  the  visible  token  of 
it,  on  the  application  of  which,  a  man  becomes 
accredited  as  a  citizen  of  the  great  spiritual 
commonwealth,  which  Christ  has  washed  in  his 
blood. 

Frequently,  a  sentiment  or  action  is  used  for 
the  object  with  which  it  is  conversant.  Faith  sig- 
nifies not  the  helief,  but  the  doctrine  believed: 
"  Contend  earnestly  for  the  faith."  Hope  stands 
for  Christ,  the  great  object  of  hope :  Col.  i.  27, 
"Christ,  the  hope  of  glory."     Desire,  for  the 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  217 

thing  desired:  Ezek.  xxiv.  16,  ** Behold  I  take 
away  tlie  desire  of  thine  eyes  [the  prophet's 
wife]  with  a  stroke."  Thus  Christ  may  be 
called  "the  desire  of  the  nations,"  on  account 
of  the  earnest  longing  for  a  Saviour,  and  an 
actual  exjDectation  of  one  about  to  appear,  which 
preceded  his  advent.  The  passage  in  Haggai, 
however,  where  the  expression  is  used,  will 
hardly  bear  an  immediate  reference  to  the  Mes- 
siah. The  context,  as  well  as  certain  grammatical 
considerations,  proves  that  the  treasures  of  the 
Gentiles  are  meant,  which  the  prophet  says 
shall  be  brought  in  great  abundance  to  adorn 
the  second  temple.  That  the  whole  paragraph 
contains  a  prophecy  of  Christ  is  almost  certain ; 
but  nothino;  of  that  kind  is  involved  in  this 
particular  phrase. 

2d.  Synecdoche  is  the  substitution  of  a  whole 
for  the  part,  or  a  part  for  the  whole.  Of  the  first 
kind,  the  following  are  examj^les.  "  The  world" 
denotes  sometimes  the  Roman  Empire,  which 
was  a  very  small  portion  of  it.  "  Augustus 
decreed  that  the  whole  world  should  be  taxed." 
"  All"  is  put   for   a   single   individual.      Thus 


218  INTERPEETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

it  is  said  of  King  Joasli,  tliat  his  servants 
slew  him  for  the  blood  of  the  sons  of  Jehoida, 
the  priest,  2  Chron.  xxiv.  25.  But  it  appears 
from  the  20th  verse,  that  Joash  had  killed  but 
one  son,  the  Prophet  Zechariah.  In  Judges  xii. 
7,  it  is  said  that  Jephtha  was  "buried  in  the 
cities  of  Gilead."  He  could  be  buried  of  course 
only  in  one.  The  neglect  of  this  synecdoche  led 
some  Jewish  commentators  to  invent  the  strange 
fable,  that  to  punish  him  for  the  sacrifice  of  his 
daughter,  his  body  was  chop]3ed  into  pieces,  and 
a  part  interred  in  each  of  the  principal  cities. 

Sometimes  all  is  equivalent  to  many.  "  All 
Jerusalem  went  out  to  John  the  Baj^tist."  The 
devil  showed  to  our  Redeemer  "  all  the  kins:- 
doms  of  the  earth  and  their  glory."  At^  others, 
it  denotes  all  kinds :  Acts  x.  12.  Peter  saw  a 
great  sheet,  "  in  which  were  [literally]  all  four- 
footed  beasts  of  the  field."  Our  translators 
have  rendered  the  expression  more  intelligible, 
but  in  so  doing  forsaken  the  original,  as  they 
have  done  also  in  translating  Matt.  iv.  23,  where 
the  Greek  says  that  Christ  "  healed  all  sickness 
and  disease  among  the  peoj)le."     All  manner  of 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  219 

sickness  is  undoubtedly  tlie  idea  intended.  On 
this  synecdochical  use  of  the  word,  those  who 
contend  that  in  no  sense  can  Christ  be  said  to 
die  for  the  non-elect  found  their  explications 
of  the  numerous  passages  objected  to  their 
view.  Nothing  more  is  meant,  they  say,  than 
that  he  died  for  "all  kinds  of  men."  Happily, 
these  gentlemen  are  themselves  a  synecdoche — 
and,  we  trust,  a  small  one — of  the  party  to 
which  they  belong.  Calvinism  can  boast  of  a  dif- 
ferent class  of  expositors,  among  whom  is  found 
Calvin  himself — than  whom  few  use  stronger 
language,  in  describing  the  magnificent  ful- 
ness and  universality  of  the  gracious  provisions 
of  the  Gospel. 

The  part  is  put  for  the  whole ;  as  in  Acts 
xxvii.  37,  "There  were  in  the  ship  two  hundi'ed 
souls."  The  soul  here  comprehends  the  entire 
man.  Many  is  substituted  for  all :  Dan.  xii.  2, 
' '  Many  that  sleep  in  the  dust  shall  awake,  some 
to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  ever- 
lasting contempt ;"  the  prophet  certainly  does 
not  mean  to  describe  a  partial  resurrection  in 
these  remarkable  words.     Kom.  v.  19,  "By  one 


220  INTERPRETATION    OF  SCRIPTURE. 

man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners  ;" 
who  the  many  are,  we  find  in  the  former  verse : 
"  By  the  offence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon 
all  men  to  condemnation."  A  striking  example 
of  the  figure  we  have  in  Ex.  xii.  40,  which  has 
given  much  trouble  to  critics :  "  Now  the  so- 
journing of  the  children  of  Israel,  who  dwelt 
in  Egyi^t,  was  four  hundred  and  thirty  years." 
But  it  can  easily  be  proved  that  four  hundred 
and  thirty  years  include  the  entire  period  from 
the  calling  of  Abraham  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chal- 
dees ;  how  then  are  the  Israelites  represented  as 
dwelling  during  that  whole  j^eriod  in  Egypt  ? 
We  answer,  that  the  part  is  put  for  the  whole — 
Egypt,  for  the  entire  region  in  which  Abraham 
sojourned  with  his  descendants.  Being  an  im- 
portant part,  and  that  in  which  they  resided 
last,  the  writer  singles  it  out  to  represent  all 
the  other  scenes  of  their  pilgrimage.  The  whole 
thought  is  given  by  the  Sej^tuagint  translators, 
who  insert  after  Egypt,  '''mid  in  the  land  of 
Canaan^ 

On  Synecdoches  of  this  kind,  is  founded  a 
general  canon  very  useful  to  be  remembered  in 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  221 

exposition,  viz.,  that  Scripture  often  exhibits  a 
general  truth  in  the  form  of  a  particular  case — 
not  that  it  is  the  only  one,  but  that  it  explains 
the  principle,  and  suggests  the  mode  of  apply- 
ing it  to  all  others.  The  language  and  educa- 
tion of  the  writers  indisposed  them  for  dealing 
in  abstractions ;  everything  is  definite  and  par- 
ticular, and  may  be  almost  pictured  to  the  eye. 
But  we  shall  do  them  the  grossest  injustice,  if 
we  suppose  they  rested  here.  There  was  doubt- 
less a  great  general  idea  distinctly  before  their 
mind,  of  which  the  picture  was  the  symbolical 
representation.  When  the  wise  man,  in  Prov. 
XX.  10,  says,  "Divers  weights  and  divers  meas- 
ures are  an  abomination  unto  the  Lord,"  who 
can  doubt  that  he  thought  of  the  other  in- 
numerable frauds  practised  by  shopkeepers  on 
their  customers  ?  The  Psalmist  tells  us  that 
"  the  good  man  is  ever  merciful  and  lendethr 
Accommodating  a  poor  and  industrious  man 
with  a  loan  of  money  is  true  kindness,  but  not 
the  only  expression  of  it.  Christ,  in  Matt.  vi. 
1,  forbids  us  to  do  our  alms  before  men;"  he 
means  that  we  should  conceal,  if  possible,  all 


222  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

our  benevolent  actions.  In  Jolin  xiii.  14,  lie 
says,  "  Ye  ought  to  wash  each  others'  feet ;"  he 
might  equally  have  said,  for  it  is  what  he  in- 
tended, "Be  humble  and  mutually  affectionate." 
In  a  like  way,  those  who  justify  the  practice 
of  granting  divorce  for  other  causes  than  adul- 
tery, interpret  the  words  of  Christ  in  Matthew 
V.  32:  "Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  mfe, 
save  for  the  crime  of  fornication,  causeth  her  to 
commit  adultery,  and  whosoever  shall  marry 
her  that  is  divorced,  committeth  adultery."  The 
fornication  here  stated  to  be  the  only  ground, 
they  view  as  the  principal  one,  standing  for 
others  equally  serious,  as  desertion,  violence,  and 
continued  ill-treatment.  They  contend  that  the 
sco23e  of  the  Redeemer  is  to  attack  the  doctrine 
of  arbitrary  divorce^  not  to  lay  down  in  form  the 
justificatory  causes  ;  and  appeal  to  the  parallel 
passages,  Mark  x.  4,  Luke  xvi.  18,  which  give 
the  prohibition  "svithout  even  specifying  fornica- 
tion as  an  exception.  Why,  they  ask,  should 
the  statement  of  Matthew  be  considered  a  com- 
plete enumeration  of  the  justifiable  causes  of 
divorce,  when  the  other  evangelists  give  none 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  223 

whatever  ?  declaring,  absolutely,  "  Whoso  shall 
put  away  his  wife  and  marrieth  another,  com- 
mitteth  adultery"  ?  May  it  not  rather  be  viewed 
as  a  synecdochical  expression  of  the  thought, 
that  no  divorce  is  valid  which  is  not  founded  on 
the  strongest  reasons  ? 

We  have  a  doubt  whether  the  example  just 
given  be  not  somewhat  strained.  Our  next  is 
much  more  clear  and  certain.  The  principle  we 
are  illustrating  is  of  special  use  in  explaining 
the  Mosaic  law,  which  some  have  degraded  into 
a  mere  civil  institute,  enjoining  nothing  but 
overt  acts  and  a  routine  of  external  observances. 
Nothino'  seems  more  evident  than  that  in  the 
great  majority  of  cases,  the  legislator  is  giving 
examples^  leaving  the  generalization  to  the  un- 
derstanding of  those  whom  he  addressed.  Paul 
was  decidedly  of  this  opinion,  as  appears  from 
his  comment  on  the  precept,  "Thou  shalt  not 
muzzle  the  ox  that  treadeth  out  the  corn."  He 
contends  that  Moses  designed  it  not  so  much  for 
oxen  as  for  men^  teaching  by  it  that  the  laborer 
is  worthy  of  his  hire.  Nor  can  it  be  reason- 
ably doubted,  that  the  command  not  to  "  seethe 


224  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

tlie  kid  in  its  mother's  milk" — not  to  "plough 
with  an  ox  and  ass  together" — not  to  "  sow  dif- 
ferent seeds  in  the  same  ground,"  with  a  hundred 
others,  must  be  explained  on  the  same  principle. 
The  good  old  custom,  therefore,  of  spiritualizing, 
or  giving  moral  extent  to  the  ten  command- 
ments, which  some  modern  writers  object  to,  is 
a  sound  one,  and  justified  by  all  the  laws  of 
interpretation :  the  Redeemer  has  given  a  most 
beautiful  example  of  it  in  his  sermon  on  the 
mount.  This  subject  is  well  worth  the  student's 
attention.  A  habit  of  generalizing,  without 
straining  or  doing  violence  to  Scripture  —  of 
rising  from  j^articulars  to  great  catholic  j)rinci- 
ples,  which  come  home  to  every  man's  business 
and  bosom,  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  acquisi- 
tions he  can  make  in  his  theological  course. 

3.  Metaj^hor  is  founded  on  the  resemblance 
between  objects;  being  the  substitution  of  one 
thing  for  another  which  is  like  it.  When  I  say, 
' '  God  is  my  protector,"  I  express  the  thought 
in  its  simplicity:  When  I  say,  "He  is  my  shield," 
I  clothe  it  in  metaphor.  In  no  figure  are  the 
sacred  oracles  so  rich  as  iji  this :  but  little  need 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  225 

be  said,  as  there  is  seldom  any  difficulty  in  ex- 
j^laining  it.  The  great  point  to  be  remembered 
is,  not  to  press  the  resemblance  beyond  the 
boundary  intended  by  the  author.  When  Christ 
declares  that  he  will  come  as  a  thief,  suddenness 
of  appearance^  not  wickedness  of  purpose^  is  the 
thought  which  he  expresses.  So  when  he  de- 
clares that  the  wicked  shall  "  depart  into  ever- 
lasting fire," — not  physical  torture,  as  the  Catho- 
lics and  many  others  teach,  is  meant ;  but  ex- 
treme infelicity  of  soul,  combined  doubtless  with 
pains  of  body,  the  natural  effects  of  sin,  in  the 
same  way  that  the  spiritual  happiness  of  the 
righteous  is  enhanced  by  a  certain  amount  of 
corporeal  enjoyment.  But  in  both  cases  there 
is  a  definite  limitation.  Intense  bodily  sensa- 
tions, whether  pleasurable  or  the  contrary,  can- 
not coexist  with  the  action  of  the  mind's  hi2:her 
faculties  of  reason  and  conscience.  Nothing  in 
the  world  so  completely  brutifies  the  most  soar- 
ing intellect,  as  physical  rapture  or  ecstacy  on 
the  one  hand,  and  physical  agony  on  the  other. 
The  use  of  them,  therefore,  in  this  connection  is 
decidedly  metaphorical, — as  the  immediate  con- 
11 


226  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

text  proves  in  every  case  without  exception. 
Our  preachers  should  insist  on  this  point  more 
earnestly  than  is  done,  as  it  would  silence  the 
Universalist's  strongest  battery,  by  stripping 
the  orthodox  doctrine  of  its  imputed  grossness. 
We  are  apt  to  forget  an  important  truth,  that 
would  prevent  much  extravagance  and  coarse- 
ness, in  treating  this  awful  subject.  It  is,  that 
God  is  ^^good'^ — everywhere^  and  ahvays — good 
even  in  punishing.  "  He  does  not  afflict  willingly 
the  sons  of  men."  Retribution  is  not  a  caprice, 
nor  the  edict  of  a  lawgiver — but  the  eternal  truth 
and  harmony  of  things,  a  law  unmade,  standing 
back  of  the  divine  volition,  and  which,  with 
profound  reverence  be  it  said,  the  Supreme 
Being  is  custodian  and  exponent  rather  than 
.enactor.  This  idea  excludes  everything  in  pun- 
ishment that  is  gratuitous  and  not  demanded 
by  the  exigencies  of  the  case ;  while  it  admits 
softenings  and  alleviations  of  which  we  have  no 
definite  notion  at  present,  and  indeed  devoutly 
pray  that  we  never  shall.  It  is  surely  a  mean 
conception  of  the  Deity,  that  he  lays  aside  all 
the  father  when  once  his  offending  children  are 
immured  in  the  prison-house  of  hell ! 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  227 

Anthropopatlieia  exhibits  the  Divine  Being 
as  clothed  with  the  attributes  and  performing  the 
actions  of  men.  Thus  he  has  "  eyes"  and  "  ears" 
— and  an  "arm  that  is  full  of  power."  "His 
bowels  are  moved;"  at  his  coming  "the  earth 
shook  and  trembled ;  he  bowed  the  heavens  and 
came  down,  and  darkness  was  under  his  feet, 
and  he  did  ride  upon  a  cherub  and  did  fly ;  the 
mountains  saw  him  and  quaked,  the  deep  uttered 
his  voice,  and  lifted  up  his  hands  on  high." 
Occasionally  we  find  an  accumulation  of  these 
images  in  one  description,  on  which  the  poet 
exj)ends  the  whole  force  of  his  genius.  Some 
of  these  passages  (called  "  theophanies  ")  are  aw- 
fully sublime — of  which  the  18th  Psalm  and 
the  3d  chapter  of  Habakkuk  may  be  quoted  as 
specimens ;  the  last  of  which,  describing  the  ap- 
pearance of  God  for  the  deliverance  of  his  peo- 
ple, leaves  behind  it  at  a  measureless  distance,  the 
loftiest  strains  of  the  classic  lyre. 

In  explaining  passages  of  an  anthropopathic 
character,  the  rule  is  plain.  They  must  be  un- 
derstood in  a  way  suitable  to  the  infinite  majesty 
of  God,  and  purged  from  everything  savoring  of 


228  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

impurity  or  imperfection.  His  "eye"  is  his 
infinite  knowledge :  his  "  arm  "  is  his  ahuighty 
power :  the  "  sounding  of  his  bowels"  is  his  ten- 
der love  and  compassion  :  his  "  repentance"  is 
his  purpose  to  change  the  course  of  his  provi- 
dence for  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  springing 
out  of  moral  conduct  of  his  creatures:  he  is 
"  angry"  when  he  punishes  the  sinner;  and  his 
"  fury"  paints  the  severity  of  their  doom. 

The  prevalence  of  this  figure  in  scripture  has 
given  occasion  to  much  puerile  declamation  con- 
cerning the  "  rude  and  imperfect  ideas  enter- 
tained of  God  in  early  times" — as  if  the  saints 
of  the  Old  Testament  really  believed  in  the 
materiality  of  the  Divine  Being !  The  fancy 
deserves  no  refutation,  as  it  is  purely  absurd. 
The  truth  is,  ive  need  the  same  expedient,  how- 
ever unwilling  to  own  it,  for  imparting  warmth 
and  fixedness  to  our  dim  conceptions  of  the 
great  and  incomprehensible  First  Cause.  They 
who  maintain  the  contrary,  who  think  that 
they  can  carry  on  their  devotions  without  re- 
sorting to  such  "  unphilosophical"  methods  of 
exciting  emotion,  are  mistaken,  and  would  give 


TROPES   AND    FIGURES.  229 

US  a  religion  entirely  unfit  for  human  nature. 
Imao:ination  must  come  to  the  aid  of  reason,  and 
provide  it  with  sensible  ideas,  to  be  a  support 
to  its  feebleness.  Perhaps  the  whole  of  the 
magnificent  scheme  of  our  redemption  rests  on 
the  anthropopathic  idea — the  incarnation  of  the 
eternal  Soil  being  a  substantial,  living  theophany^ 
intended  to  furnish  the  worshipper  with  a  visible 
object,  to  which  his  contemplations  may  be  di- 
rected, while  he  attempts  to  leap  the  immense 
abyss  between  him  and  the  Creator.  When 
without  this  aid,  and  on  mere  rationalistic  prin- 
ciples, he  undertakes  the  work,  how  is  he  lost 
in  the  endeavor !  He  finds  in  a  moment  that  he 
has  no  wings  for  such  a  flight :  his  affections  can- 
not go  forth  to  clasp  a  cold  and  barren  abstrac- 
tion, and  he  exclaims,  with  a  dreary  feeling  of 
perplexity,  "  O  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find 
him,  that  I  might  go  even  to  his  seat !"  But 
the  Gospel  steps  in  with  its  cheering  revelations. 
Heaven  opens — and  an  amiable  man  appears,  seat- 
ed on  a  throne,  and  yet  looking  down  upon  him 
with  the  tender  regard  of  an  elder  brother,  who 
died  for  his  sake.     "It  is  my  Saviour!"  he  ex- 


230  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

claims — "it  is  my  God ! !"  His  imagimition  is 
at  once  deliglitfully  excited.  His  scattered 
tlioiiglits  have  something  on  which  they  can 
rally  and  concentre  ;  faith  becomes  actual  vis- 
ion ;  and  with  all  the  feelings  of  a  child,  he  can 
draw  near  to  the  heavenly  Majesty — for  he 
hears  tliat  Saviour's  own  declaration,  "  He  who 
hath  seen  me,  hath  seen  the  Father."  Let  us  be 
thankful  that  it  is  so,  and  bless  our  wise  and 
merciful  Parent  that  when  he  contrived  a  relig- 
ion for  us,  he  did  not  call  in  philosophers  to  his 
council ! 

Prosopopoeia,  or  personification,  is  another  form 
of  metaphor,  in  which  human  actions  and  life 
are  ascribed  to  inanimate  or  irrational  objects. 
Examples  are  very  frequent,  and  some  exceed- 
ingly beautiful ;  but  they  are  all  easily  under- 
stood. There  are  two,  however,  which  deserve 
passing  notice,  because  in  a  hermeneutical  view 
they  are  highly  instructive  as  well  as  beautiful 
— exhibiting,  if  we  interpret  them  correctly,  the 
development  of  Christian  doctrine  out  of  germs, 
planted  in  one  age — slowly  unfolding  through 
others — and  at  last  becoming  terebinths  and  ce- 


TROPES    AND   FIGURES.  231 

dars  of  Lebanon.  The  first  is  the  pei'sonifi.ca- 
tion  of  "  wisdom,"  contained  in  the  eighth  chap- 
ter of  Proverbs ;  at  which,  when  the  perusal  is 
finished,  every  serious  reader  of  the  Bible  pauses, 
to  inquire  whether  it  is  indeed  a  personification, 
or  the  description  of  an  actual  person.  The 
most  of  evangelical  divines  are  of  the  latter  opin- 
ion, and  use  the  passage  freely  as  an  argument 
for  the  preexistence  of  Christ,  and  his  hypostat- 
ical  distinction  from  the  Father.  This  seems  to 
be  carrying  the  matter  too  far.  There  is  cer- 
tainly something  remarkable  in  such  expressions 
as  these  :  "  By  me  kings  reign  and  princes  decree 
justice  :"  "  The  Lord  possessed  me  in  the  begin- 
ning of  his  ways,  before  his  works  of  old  :"  "  I 
was  set  up  from  everlasting:  When  he  pre- 
pared the  heavens^  I  was  there,"  etc.  If  nothing 
but  the  attribute  of  reason,  or  intelligence,  was 
in  the  writer's  mind  when  he  penned  these 
words,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  language 
seems  unusually  bold ;  yet  we  are  compelled  to 
think  that  this  w^as  his  meaning.  A  very  strong 
necessity  must  exist  to  justify  the  assumption, 
that  Solomon  towered  so  high  above  the  men 


232  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

of  his  epoch,  as  to  anticipate  I'cvelatiou  clearly 
belonging  to  a  future  period.  Yet  we  are  per- 
mitted, for  various  reasons,  to  surmise  that  the 
divine  Being,  with  his  eye  always  fixed  on  the 
great  building  of  mercy  which  he  was  erecting 
on  the  earth,  intended  to  lay  a  basis  for  the 
Christian  idea,  by  speaking  words  which  should 
put  the  church  to  thinking^  and  ferment  in  the 
minds  of  the  pious,  until  a  result  was  gained 
which  would  prove  that  they  were  not  thrown 
out  at  random,  but  designed  to  commence  a 
movement  in  the  direction  of  a  grand  foundation 
truth  of  the  Gos^^el.  And  so  it  turned  out. 
Eight  hundred  years  subsequently,  we  find  pre- 
cisely the  same  language  and  expressions,  only 
greatly  strengthened,  in  the  Apocrypha,  that 
precious  collection  of  Jewish  writings  not  sufii- 
ciently  read  by  Protestants,  which  represents  the 
opinions  of  the  church  two  centuries  before  Christ. 
See  Book  of  Wisdom,  vii.  22 :  Eccles.  xxiv.  5 : 
Baruch  iii.  30.  The  descriptions  of  Wisdom  given 
here,  and  in  other  places,  so  strangely  accord  with 
that  in  the  Proverbs,  and  in  fact  go  so  far  be- 
yond it,  that  we  can  hardly  avoid  supposing  the 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  233 

miuds  of  the  authors  to  have  been  in  a  state  of 
transition  to  the  Christian  thought,  if  they  had 
not  yet  fully  reached  it.  In  the  Chaldee  Para- 
phrase, which  dates  somewhat  later,  are  found 
clear  traces  of  a  hypostatical  distinction  between 
the  invisible  God,  and  one  who  is  his  first-born, 
the  doer  of  all  his  works,  his  image  and  repre- 
sentative, the  living  and  eternal  "  Word."  The 
idea  entered  many  ancient  heathen  philosophies, 
and  had  become  so  familiar  to  the  thinking  part 
of  the  people  at  the  time  of  Christ,  that  he  with 
his  Apostles  had  little  more  to  do  than  formally 
announce  it. 

The  same  remarks  apply  to  another  striking 
personification  not  always  rightly  understood. 
The  words  "Spirit,"  "Holy  Spirit,"  "Spirit  of 
God,"  so  often  occurring  in  the  Old  Testament, 
can  hardly  mean  any  thing  more  (certainly  not 
in  the  earlier  books)  than  the  ever-living  power 
and  energy  of  the  Supreme  Being,  as  exerted  in 
his  constant  intercourse  with  his  creatures.  We 
cannot  admit  that  the  distinct  personality  of  the 
third  person  of  the  Trinity  was  before  the  mind 
of  the  authors.  But  the  constant  use  of  the 
11* 


234  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

expression,  whenever  divine  acts  are  spoken  of, 
and  the  vividness  of  the  representation,  produced 
an  eftect  similar  to  that  which  has  already  been 
adverted  to,  viz.,  ripening  for  the  discovery,  that 
under  it  was  a  deeper  significance  than  lay  upon 
the  surface.  At  what  time  the  higher  idea  be- 
came fixed,  we  do  not  know.  Probably  it  had 
to  wait  for  the  great  Teacher.  It  is  not  unlikely 
that  the  disciples  first  learnt  it  from  conversa- 
tions with  Jesus,  who  always,  but  especially  to- 
wards the  close  of  life,  spoke  of  the  Spirit  as 
his  intimate  personal  friend,  and  promised  him 
to  them  as  their  constant  companion  and  guide. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  old  covenant  is  the  sacred 
ovary  and  matrix  of  the  new.  The  truths  of 
the  latter  were  not  projected  in  their  complete- 
ness, but  planted  long  previously,  perhaps  in 
some  sequestered  spot  where  one  would  hardly 
ever  think  of  lookim?  for  them.  The  belief  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  the  resurrec- 
tion, in  the  new  birth,  and  the  sacred  trinity, 
with  many  other  Christian  verities  that  might 
be  mentioned,  had  their  point  of  attachment 
and   support,  not   always    severely  logical,  in 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  235 

liiuts  seemingly  thrown  out  at  random,  and 
scarcely  arresting  attention.  They  were  at  first 
rude— nebulous— embryonic— like  the  gropings 
of  an  infant  when  awaking  to  a  dim  perception  of 
an  external  world.  But  they  grew.  Like  the  par- 
ticles of  tenuous  matter,  the  star  dust  of  specu- 
lative astronomers  out  of  which  they  suppose 
that  worlds  were  framed,  they  gradually  united, 
consolidated  into  organic  unity,  and  became  that 
perfect  revelation,  "  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the 
blessed  God."  This  subject  will  again  be  slightly 
touched  when  we  speak  of  types.  But  our 
present  examples  could  not  be  introduced  in 
that  connection,  as  they  contain  nothing  of  a 
typical  nature,  and  ai'e  in  other  respects  pecu- 
liar. 

4.  Allegory  is  a  figui'e  in  which  one  thing  is 
expressed^  and  another  understood.  It  may  be 
defined, — a  continued  metaphor,  or  an  image 
founded  on  resemblance,  carried  out  into  a 
variety  of  details,  for  the  purpose  of  inculcating 
some  moral  truth.  Nathan's  parable  of  the  poor 
man  and  his  ewe  lamb ;  the  description  of  the 
vine  in  the  80th   Psalm ;  Jotham's  apologue  of 


236  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

the  election  of  a  king  by  the  trees,  in  the  Gtli 
of  Jndges;  and  Paul's  representation  of  the 
members  of  the  body  in  1  Cor.  xii.,  are  fine  ex- 
amples. All  the  parables  belong  to  this  class. 
Their  only  peculiarity  is,  that  they  narrate  a 
series  of  fictitious  events ;  other  allegories  are 
descriptive.  But  this  makes  no  difference  in 
their  nature,  or  the  laws  of  interpreting  them. 

Allegories  consist  of  two  parts ;  the  sensible 
image,  or  similitude,  as  drawn  out  into  a  series 
of  imaginary  facts,  which  we  may  call  the  shell; 
and  the  doctrine,  or  moral  truth  illustrated,  which 
may  be  called  the  kernel.  The  latter  is,  of  course, 
not  expressed,  being  contained  in  the  shell,  which 
must  be  broken  before  we  become  its  masters. 
Practice,  however,  and  the  exercise  of  a  little 
common  sense,  make  the  operation  a  very  easy 
one.  There  is  always  something  in  the  connec- 
tion, or  the  occasion,  or  the  accompanying  re- 
marks of  the  speaker,  or  the  nature  of  the  thing 
itself,  which  informs  us  what  great  thought  is 
to  be  elucidated.  There  are  two  important  rules 
which  the  interpreter  must  observe  in  relation 
to  this  figure, 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  237 

1.  Never  seek  for  it;  nor  turn  into  allegory 
what  admits  of  being  understood  in  a  plain  and 
obvious  sense.  The  rage  for  discovering  mysti- 
cal significations  in  Scripture  is  one  of  the  worst 
diseases  with  which  a  young  student  can  be  in- 
fected. It  has  led  to  that  infinite  multitude  of 
tyjJes  which  disfigure  the  writings  of  many  other- 
wise excellent  writers,  and  throw  a  darkness 
that  may  be  felt  over  the  sermons  of  many  of 
our  preachers.  A  type  is  a  person  or  thing  in 
the  Old  Testament,  supposed  to  prefigure  a  per- 
son or  thing  in  the  New.  It  is,  therefore,  a 
divinely  appointed  practical  Allegory,  and  was 
designed  to  prepare  the  minds  of  those  living  in 
the  Theocracy,  for  the  further  developments  of 
truth  which  should  characterize  the  age  of  the 
Messiah,  In  this  point  of  view,  a  wise  and  well- 
arranged  system  of  types  was  an  admirable  ex- 
pedient. They  illustrated,  in  a  way  peculiarly 
lively  and  picturesque,  the  great  principles  of 
moral  government,  which  remained  to  be  un- 
folded in  the  latter  day  ;  so  that  no  shock  should 
be  given  to  the  pious  mind  by  their  unexpected 
novelty.     "  Saci'ifices"  made  the  people  familiar 


238  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

with  tlie  idea  of  substitution.  The  "  mercy-seat," 
on  which  the  Divine  throne  was  erected,  yearly 
sprinkled  with  blood,  was  a  speaking  allegory, 
from  which  they  could  not  but  infer  something 
that, prepared  them  for  the  Christian  doctrine  of 
reconciliation.  Their  water  lustrations  suggested 
the  necessity  of  moral  renovation.  The  like  may 
be  said  of  typical  persons.  The  royal  David 
assisted  them  to  conceive  of  a  great  theocratic 
monarch,  whose  kingdom  was  to  be  "  an  ever- 
lasting kingdom,  and  of  whose  government  there 
should  be  no  end."  The  mysterious  king  of 
Salem,  so  abruptly  introduced  in  patriarchal 
history,  and  so  abruj)tly  withdrawn,  in  whom 
the  attributes  of  priesthood  and  royalty  were  so 
strangely  combined,  and  to  whom  Abraham 
himself  paid  homage,  was  well  calculated  to 
arrest  the  reflecting  spirit,  and  induce  the  sus- 
picion at  least  that  a  new  order  of  things  might 
arise,  which  would  exhibit  the  august  spectacle 
of  a  "  priest  upon  a  throne."  We  need  not  sup- 
pose that  they  perceived  the  full  significance  of 
these  symbolical  representations.  It  is  enough 
that  they  suggested  great  and  important  hints — 


TROPES   AND   FIGURES.  239 

seeds  of  truths  rather  than  truth  itself,  which,  after 
lying  buried  and  torpid  in  the  depths  of  the 
soul  during  the  long  winter  of  the  ancient  oecon- 
omy,  quickened  into  glorious  life,  "when  the 
time  of  the  singing  of  birds  was  come,  and  the 
voice  of  the  turtle  was  heard  in  their  land." 

If  now  the  question  is  asked,  how  far  the  sys- 
tem may  be  carried  out, — we  answer,  so  far  as 
it  pleases  God  and  no  further.  It  is  his  prerog- 
ative to  institute  ordinances  for  his  church,  and 
when  he  does,  lie  lets  us  know  it.  If  Samson  be 
an  appointed  emblem  of  the  Lord.  Jesus  Christ, 
I  am  sure  that  I  shall  find  it  in  the  Old  or  New 
Testament;  if  they  be  silent  on  the  point,  all 
his  strength  shall  not  compel  my  assent.  I  have 
no  talisman  given  me,  with  which  I  can  go  into 
the  simple  perspicuous  narratives  of  the  book  of 
God,  and  by  a  "  presto  passe,"  turn  its  men  and 
Avomen  into  types !  To  prove  their  existence, 
much  more  must  be  done  than  to  show  that  one 
object  on  some  points  resembles  another.  Mere 
similitude  may  qualify  for  ofiice,  but  cannot 
possibly  induct  into  it;  else  Capt.  Fluellen's 
theory  of  a  typical  connection  between  Alexan- 


240  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

der  tlie  Great,  and  king  Harry  of  Monmoutli, 
would  be  strictly  true,  being  based  on  indubita- 
ble facts  :  1st,  That  the  birth-place  of  both  com- 
menced with  an  M ;  2d,  That  both  were  great 
fighters ;  and  3d,  That  there  was  a  river  in  Mon- 
mouth and  also  a  river  in  Macedon,  though  the 
worthy  gentleman  had  forgotten  its  name.  The 
great  point  to  be  established  is,  that  the  likeness 
was  designed  in  the  original  institution.  It  is 
the  previous  purpose  and  intention,  which  consti- 
tute the  whole  relation  of  type  and  antitype. 
Now  this  must  be  proved,  and  there  is  only  one 
way  of  doing  it :  show  me  from  Scrij^ture  the 
existence  of  such  a  connection.  Whatever  per- 
sons or  things  in  the  Old  Testament  are  asserted 
by  Christ  or  his  Apostles  to  have  been  designed 
prefigurations  of  persons  or  things  in  the  New, 
I  accept :  but  if  you  only  presume  the  fact  from 
a  real  or  fancied  analogy,  you  are  drawing  on 
your  imagination,  and  assuming  the  dangerous 
liberty  of  speaking  for  God. 

Nor  is  it  enough  to  quote  passages  from  the 
New  Testament  which  refer  to  incidents  in  the 
Old.      Many   facts   of  the   old   oeconomy   are 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  241 

adduced  simply  as  happy  illustrations — to  adorn 
or  enliven  a  sentiment,  not  to  prove  it,  of  wliich 
we  have  no  less  than  two  instances  in  the  second 
chapter  of  Matthew, — "  The  voice  in  Kama,  lam- 
entation and  great  mourning — Kachel  weeping 
for  her  children,  and  refusing  to  be  comforted," 
spoken  of  by  Jeremiah,  was  the  mourning  of 
the  Jewish  mothers  when  separated  from  their 
children  on  the  way  to  Babylon.  The  Evan- 
gelist alludes  to  that  catastrophe  as  resembling 
the  murder  of  the  infants  by  Herod,  and  says 
nothing  more  than  that  the  one  illustrated  the 
other.  This  use  of  the  phrase  onwq  nlrjQw^rj  is 
known  to  every  scholar.  "Anything,"  as  Dr. 
Bloomfield  observes,  ' '  may  be  said  to  be  fulfil- 
led, if  it  admits  of  being  appropriately  applied." 
The  quotation  in  the  15th  verse,  "  out  of  Egypt 
have  I  called  my  son,"  is  a  like  instance  of  ac- 
commodation. The  departure  of  Israel  from 
Egypt  under  Moses,  of  which  Hosea  speaks, 
Hos.  xi.  1,  was  neither  a  prophecy  nor  type  of 
the  Redeemer's  brief  residence  in  that  country. 
But  there  was  a  pleasing  and  interesting  coinci- 
dence, which  attracts  the  notice  of  the  Evange- 


242  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

list,  and  induces  him  to  borrow  the  prophet's 
words. 

The  consequence  of  neglecting  these  plain  and 
rational  principles,  may  be  seen  in  the  writings 
of  divines  without  number.  Large  folios  have 
been  filled  with  tyj^es  and  antitypes,  which  exist 
only  in  the  brains  of  their  authors,  the  facility 
of  the  operation  greatly  recommending  it  to 
many.  To  become  a  good  Grecian,  and  skilful 
collator  of  parallelisms,  is  labor  indeed !  Noth- 
ing more  easy  than  to  lie  all  day  on  a  sofa, 
tracing  likenesses  between  Delilah  and  Judas 
Iscariot  —  Adam's  fig-leaves  and  the  works  of 
the  law.  It  is  also  very  convenient ;  for  each 
sect  may  provide  itself  with  its  own  typology, 
from  which,  as  from  a  fortress  built  in  air,  and 
therefore  beyond  the  reach  of  human  weapons, 
they  may  hurl  defiance  to  every  enemy.  In  this 
way  Pope  Innocent  the  Third  proved  to  the 
Emj^eror  of  Constantinople  the  immeasurable 
superiority  of  his  Holiness  to  His  Majesty.  God, 
says  he,  made  two  great  lights,  i.  e.,  he  consti- 
tuted two  great  dignities — the  Papal  and  the 
Royal.    The  greater  is  the  Papal,  ruling  in  spir- 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  243 

ituals,  or  over  the  day :  the  lesser  is  the  Royal, 
ruling  in  temporals,  or  over  the  night.  From 
which  it  clearly  follows,  that  as  the  sun  is  su- 
perior to  the  moon,  so  the  Pope  is  exalted  above 
Kings ! 

This  was  not  bad.  What  his  majesty  replied 
we  cannot  say — though  doubtless  he  contrived 
some  method  of  turning  the  tables.  The  scheme, 
after  all,  in  matters  of  argument  at  least,  is  not 
so  convenient  as  we  allowed  it  to  be  ;  as  we  can 
seldom  bring  the  adversary  to  our  own  way  of 
thinking  about  it,  and  our  best  cases  may  be  so 
easily  retorted.  The  types  of  theologians  much 
resemble  their  little  namesakes  of  the  printing- 
office,  in  one  respect ;  however  ingeniously  set, 
one  stroke  of  a  mischievous  elbow  can  dash 
them  all  into  pi.  Those  who  desii'e  to  see  the 
way  in  which  the  subject  is  treated  by  some 
of  our  evangelical  divines,  may  look  into 
"  McEwen  on  the  Types."  He  is  greatly  com- 
mended by  some ;  and  we  would  not  deny  him 
the  praise  of  lively  fancy  and  sincere  piety :  but 
it  is  fancy  run  wild,  and  no  degree  of  piety  can 
give  respectability  to  nonsense.     We  hold  an 


244  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

interpretation  not  based  on  principles,  to  be  an 
unprincipled  interpi-etation,  tliougli  endorsed  by 
all  tlie  saints  in  tlie  calendar.  That  there  are 
pei'sons  and  things  in  the  ancient  dispensation  in- 
tended to  be  prefigui'ative  of  persons  and  things 
in  tlie  new,  we  have  already  expressed  our  be- 
lief. We  go  on  solid  grounds  when  we  make 
tlie  assertion,  and  appeal  boldly  in  support  of  it 
to  the  "  Word."  But  we  will  not  desert  that 
light  for  ignes  fatui,  or  add  our  own  muddy 
inventions  to  divine  ordinances.  The  extrava- 
gances of  the  advances  of  typology  have  done 
more  to  make  the  whole  doctrine  appear  ridicu- 
lous than  all  the  sneers  and  wit  of  infidelity. 

Yet  we  would  not  be  morose  to  our  type- 
loving  brethren,  nor  refuse  all  compromise  with 
them.  That  every  question  which  arises  must 
be  decided  by  the  word  of  God,  is  a  point  not 
to  be  surrendered,  but  whether  direct  and  posi- 
tive assertion  is  necessary,  may  be  doubted. 
Even  when  nothing  is  said  on  the  subject,  the 
resemblance  between  two  objects,  whether  per- 
sons or  things,  may  be  so  striking, — and  so  re- 
markable the  coincidence  of  the  attending  cir- 


TROPES   AND   FIGURES.  245 

cumstances, — that  a  devont  mind,  profoundly 
convinced  of  the  initiatory  and  predictive  char- 
acter of  the  ancient  oeconomy,  might  be  allowed 
to  see  in  the  correspondence  something  more 
than  accident.  Thus,  without  the  express  tes- 
timony of  our  Saviour,  it  might  be  conjectured 
{perhaps)  that  the  exaltation  of  a  brazen  serpent 
on  a  pole,  darkly  pointed  to  his  own  elevation  on 
the  cross :  the  resemblance  being  so  close,  and 
the  expedient  adopted  for  healing  the  Israelites 
being  of  so  singular  a  character,  that  we  are 
almost  compelled  to  find  some  reason  for  it. 
So,  also,  had  Melchisedec  not  been  declared  by 
the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  to  be 
"  made  like  unto  the  son  of  God,"  we  might 
have  guessed  (^perhaps)  at  something  of  the 
kind,  from  the  abrupt  and  startling  manner  in 
which  the  book  of  Genesis  introduces  him  on 
the  scene,  the  union  in  his  person  of  the  sacer- 
dotal and  kingly  offices,  and  the  homage  which 
he  received  from  the  father  of  the  faithful. 

Great  care,  howevei*,  as  well  as  modesty  must 
be  exercised,  when  we  expatiate  in  the  agreea- 
ble but  sterile  field  of  conjecture.     The  naviga- 


246  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

tor  who  forsakes  his  chart,  in  quest  of  new  dis- 
coveries, should  possess  extraordinary  skill  and 
caution,  for  he  is  his  own  underwriter ;  he 
should  also  have  an  excellent  temper,  as  his 
* '  valuable  discoveries  "  often  prove  to  be  vexa- 
tious disappointments,  turning,  on  a  near  ap- 
proach, into — islands  of  ice — continents  of  fog 
— pei'chance  an  archipelago  of  breakers.  Facts 
might  be  adduced  without  travelling  abroad,  to 
prove  that  Hierophancy  is  far  from  being  a 
harmless  member  of  the  Fancy  family,  but  is 
often  attended  with  serious  danger.  Walking 
among  the  shadows  which  his  imagination  has 
turned  into  living  realities,  the  mystic  seer  is 
equally  ready  in  the  hour  of  reaction  (for  spite 
of  every  effort  to  the  contrary,  reflection  will 
occasionally  step  in)  to  turn  realities  into  shad- 
ows, and  thus  make  a  total  shipwreck  of  his 
religious  faith  and  hope.  We  may  rest  assured 
of  this,  that  the  last  man  on  earth  to  be  relied 
on  "  for  continuing  in  the  faith  grounded  and 
settled,"  is  the  man  so  full  of  faith^  that  he 
sees  its  object  everywhere  and  in  everything. 
We  advise,  therefore,  every  interpreter  to  form 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  247 

habits  of  strict,  nay  severe,  exposition  of  the 
sacred  text ;  let  him  always  be  content  with 
what  he  can  prove,  and  when  the  case  is  in  the 
least  dubious,  prefer  the  too  little  to  the  too 
much. 

2d,  As  we  are  not  to  seek  for  Allegory,  so 
we  must  consider  only  the  parts  which  are  co7i- 
nected  with  the  doctrine  taught — paying  no  regard 
to  external  circumstances.  Having  mastered  the 
scope  of  the  writer,  we  must  interpret  so  much 
of  the  figure  as  directly  relates  to  it,  and  no 
more.  The  remark  is  of  special  use  in  explain- 
ing parables,  though  it  applies  also  to  types. 
The  correspondence  between  them  and  the  anti- 
type, must  never  be  pressed  beyond  the  mani- 
fest design  of  God  in  establishing  the  relation. 

Levitical  sacrifices  prefigured  the  great  atone- 
ment of  the  Redeemer  ;  but  we  must  not  turn, 
as  some  have  done,  the  tongs  and  fire-shovels 
of  the  altar  into  symbols.  The  High  Priest 
typified  the  person  of  Christ ;  but  it  would  be 
mere  trifling,  to  discover  profound  meanings  in 
every  part  of  the  sacerdotal  dress.  With  re- 
gard to  parables,  the  rule  must  never  be  lost 


248  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

sight  of.  Many  circumstances  in  them  are  only 
added  to  give  an  air  of  probability,  or  render 
them  more  lively  and  interesting.  They  are 
(to  use  the  beautiful  expression  of  Solomon) 
"  golden  apples  in  silver  baskets :"  as  inter- 
preters, we  have  concern  only  with  the  apples. 
Circumstances,  in  short,  form  what  may  be  called 
the  machinery  of  the  parable,  and  therefore  do 
not  always  have  weight  in  the  investigation  of 
its  meaning. 

The  parable  of  the  ten  virgins,  for  instance,  is 
designed  to  teach  the  folly  of  those  who  neglect 
preparation  for  their  Redeemer's  coming.  Vir- 
gins are  selected,  not  on  account  of  their  purity, 
but  because  virgins  in  those  days  played  an 
important  part  at  bridals  ;  and  a  bridal  feast 
was  made  the  basis  of  the  fable.  The  vii-ginity 
therefore  of  the  personages  is  a  mere  circum- 
stance, which  teaches  nothing.  So  is  the  dis- 
tinction into  "  five  wise  "  and  "  five  foolish  :" 
nothing  can  be  inferred  as  to  the  comparative 
number  of  nominal  and  sincere  professors  of 
religion  in  the  world.  The  two  classes  are 
equalized,  to  guard  against  all  speculations  on 


TROPES    AND    FIGURES.  249 

a  subject  foreign  to  the  speaker's  object.  The 
"  sleeping  "  of  the  wise  virgins  is  another  mere 
circumstance,  introduced  to  bring  about  the 
catastrophe  in  a  natural  way — not  to  teacb  the 
dangerous  doctrine  that  the  best  Christians  fail 
in  spiritual  vigilance,  and  are  very  liable  to  be 
taken  by  surprise  when  the  Master  calls  them. 
The  truth  is,  that  their  sleeping  was  designed 
to  be  rather  complimentary  than  otherwise,  as 
it  brought  out  the  fact  that  they  were  provided 
and  ready.  They  had  nothing  to  fear  :  a  little 
refreshment,  therefore,  was  not  amiss,  especially 
as  they  had  no  duties  to  perform  until  the  arri- 
val of  the  procession. 

The  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  is 
another  example.  The  angels  who  carry  the 
soul  of  Lazarus  to  Abraham's  bosom,  probably 
belong,  as  well  as  Abraham's  bosom  itself,  to 
the  machinery,  and  nothing  is  deducible  fi-om 
it.  The  representation  of  the  rich  man  and 
Abraham  being  in  the  same  region,  and  within 
sight  of  each  other,  is  an  image  taken  from 
the  ancient  idea  of  Hades,  and  must  not  be 
called  upon  to  prove  that  the  souls  of  the  blessed 
12 


250  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

hold  intercourse  with  those  of  the  wicked  in 
another  world. 

Great  prudence,  therefore,  and  good  taste  are 
needful  in  explaining  these  interesting  composi- 
tions. Without  such  qualifications,  and  fool- 
ishly ambitious  of  making  every  thing  out  of 
any  thing,  interpreters  have  often  made  them 
ridiculous.  What  can  be  more  simple  and  in- 
telligible than  the  parable  of  the  good  Samari- 
tan, which  so  beautifully  inculcates  universal 
benevolence !  It  is  absolutely  transparent !  Yet 
in  the  hands  of  some  it  turns  out  a  perfect  rid- 
dle, where  the  true  significance  is  not  obscured, 
but  utterly  lost.  The  man  who  fell  among 
thieves,  is  the  sinner  ;  the  thieves,  are  the  devil 
and  his  angels :  the  priest  who  passed  by  on 
the  other  side,  is  the  law  ;  the  Levite,  is  legal 
obedience.  The  good  Samaritan,  is  Christ ;  the 
oil,  is  grace  ;  the  wine,  comfort  from  the  prom- 
ises ;  the  inn-keeper,  is  the  Christian  Ministnj  ; 
the  coming  again,  is  death,  judgment^  and  eter- 
nity. All  this  may  be  very  pious ;  but  we  re- 
peat our  maxim,  that  no  piety  can  give  respect- 
ability to  want  of  plain  common  sense. 


HEBRAISMS.  251 


RULE     VIII. 


Attend  carefully  to  Eebreiv  and  Hebraistic 
idioms.  In  reading  the  Bible,  never  forget  that 
its  language,  in  every  thing  which  distinguishes 
one  from  another,  is  at  variance  with  your  own. 
That  this  holds  true  of  the  language  of  the  Old 
Testament,  no  one  doubts ;  but  the  remark 
equally  applies  to  that  of  the  New.  In  its  use 
of  words,  its  grammar,  and  syntactical  construc- 
tions, it  has  many  of  the  peculiarities  of  its 
oriental  sister  ;  so  that  its  authors  may  be  said, 
without  much  exaggeration,  while  they  spoke 
in  Greek  to  have  thought  in  Hebrew.  It  could 
not  be  otherwise ;  an  impure  Hebrew  being 
their  native  tongue,  and  their  Greek  style  being 
formed  by  the  constant  reading  of  the  Septua- 
gint,  which  was  an  extremely  literal  translation 
of  the  Old  Testament  into  that  language.  There 
is  no  reason  to  believe  that  any  of  them  except 
Paul,  had  ever  read  a  single  Greek  author.  The 
student  should  be  mindful  of  this,  and  keep 
his  Old  Testament  and  Septuagint  always  be- 
fore him.  A  few  examples  of  Hebraising  style 
shall  be  given :  details  would  fill  a  volume. 


252  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

One  striking  instajQce,  is  the  use  of  the  geni- 
tive, which  has  a  much  more  extensive  signifi- 
cation than  is  customary  with  us ;  comprehend- 
ing a  greater  variety  of  relations;  and  often 
qualifying  the  noun  which  governs  them  as 
adjectives.  This  often  occurs  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. In  1  Cor.  i.  5,  Paul  says,  the  "  suffer- 
ings of  Christ  abound  in  us."'  He  means  the 
sufferings  not  undergone  by  Christ,  but  which 
we  undergo  for  him.  Sufferings  for  the  sake  of 
Christ,  would  be  the  proper  English  expression. 
The  same  is  meant  by  the  Apostle,  when  he 
calls  himself  "  a  prisoner  of  Christ."  He  was  a 
captive  on  account  of  him.  In  various  chapters 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he  speaks  of  the 
righteousness  of  God,  by  which  he  plainly  sig- 
nifies, not  the  excellency  of  the  divine  nature, 
but  the  righteousness  by  which  the  sinner  is 
justified,  and  which  he  names  "  God's  righteous- 
ness," because  he  graciously  provided  and  ac- 
cepts it.  In  the  same  way,  "  horn  of  salvation  " 
signifies  a  horn  (the  emblem  of  power  among 
the  Hebrews,  borrowed  from  their  pastoral  life,) 
which  is  the  cause  of  salvation  ;  in  other  words. 


HEBRAISMS.  253 

(when  stripped  of  its  orientalism,)  a  mighty 
author  of  deliverance.  The  Hebrew  mode  of 
employing  genitives  for  adjectives  is  also  com- 
mon. The  Apostle,  addressing  the  Thessalo- 
nians,  speaks  of  their  "  patience  of  hope," — he 
means  patient  hope.  "  Glory  of  his  power,"  is 
equal  to  glm'ious  power. 

The  Hebrews  were  fond  of  giving  emphasis 
to  w^hat  they  said,  by  repetition.  Jer.  xxii.  29, 
"  O  earth,  earth,  earth,  hear  the  word  of  the 
Lord."  Isa.  vi.  3,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord 
God  Almighty  ;"  from  which  many  have  drawn 
a  prodigiously  silly  argument  for  the  Trinity. 

Hendiadys  is  the  joining  of  two  words  by  the 
copulative,  while  a  single  thing  is  asserted ;  the 
one  being  generally  employed  as  a  genitive,  or 
adjective:  Acts  xxiii.  6,  "of  the  hope  and 
resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  ques- 
tion." This  is  a  striking  instance.  He  means 
the  hope  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  In 
Acts  xiv.  13,  it  is  said  that  the  "  priests  of  Jupi- 
ter brought  oxen  and  garlands  to  the  gates." 
The  garlands  were  upon  the  oxen :  crowned 
with  garlands^  therefore,  expresses   the    idea. 


254  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

Many  judicious  commentators  explain  by  this 
peculiarity  the  phrase  in  Matt.  iii.  11,  "He 
shall  baptize  you-with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with 
fire :"  i.  e.,  with  the  burning  Spirit — with  him 
who  is  powerful,  penetrating,  and  all-purifying, 
as  the  element  of  fire. 

There  are  singular  examj^les  of  disregard  to 
the  regular  construction  of  sentences  in  both  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  which  in  a  classical 
Greek  writer  would  be  offensive,  but  in  our 
authors  is  positively  agreeable, — being  so  redo- 
lent of  primitive  simplicity.  In  Gal.  iii.  4th, 
5th,  6th  verses,  we  have  a  series  of  propositions, 
which  seem  to  defy  all  the  efforts  of  interpre- 
ters to  disembroil  them.  Nothing  is  more  com- 
mon than  for  the  Apostle  to  commence  a  thought 
in  a  particular  way,  and  conclude  it  in  a  man- 
ner entirely  different,  as  if  he  had  forgotten  his 
beginning.  Thus  he  commences  the  well-known 
comparison  between  Adam  and  Moses,  in  Rom. 
v.,  with  the  following  sentence,  or  rather  part 
of  one,  "  Wherefore  as  by  one  man  sin  entered 
into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin,  and  so  death 
passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned." 


HEBRAISMS.  255 

He  thus  gives  us  reason  to  expect  a  redditive  or 
corresponding  clause  to  be  introduced  by  the 
usual  formula,  "  5C,"  or  "  thusy  None  occurs  ; 
and  after  examining  what  follows,  wt  are  obliged 
to  conclude  that  in  the  onward  impetuosity  of 
his  movement,  he  has  lost  sight  of  his  starting- 
point,— without,  however,  forgetting  the  thought, 
to  which  he  does  ample  justice. 

But  it  is  in  the  use  of  verbs  that  the  Hebraism 
of  Scripture  appears  most  clearly.  They  very 
frequently  express  not  the  action  itself,  but 
something  approaching  or  allied  to  it — the  de- 
sire or  endeavor  to  perform  it — its  commence- 
ment, or  the  giving  occasion  to  it — its  permis- 
sion, or  the  obligation  to  its  performance.  We 
shall  as  usual  give  some  examples. 

Things  are  said  to  be  done,  where  there  is 
only  endeavor  or  desire.  Thus,  Reuben  is  said 
to  "  have  delivered  Joseph  out  of  the  hands  of 
his  brethren."  He  attempted  his  deliverance, 
but  succeeded  very  partially.  "  Whoso  findeth 
his  life,"  says  our  Redeemer,  "  shall  lose  it :" 
i.  e.,  seeks  to  find  it,  is  unduly  anxious  for  its 
preservation. 


256  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

Sometimes  verbs  only  intimate  that  the  sub- 
ject gave  occasion  to  the  action.  In  Jeremiah 
xxxviii.  23,  God  says  to  King  Zedekiah,  "  thou 
shalt  be  taken  by  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon, and  thou  shalt  cause  Jerusalem  to  be  burnt 
with  fire."'  The  conduct  of  the  unhappy  mon- 
arch should  lead  to  this  catastrophe.  "  The 
wrath  of  man,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "  shall  praise 
God  " — not  praise  him,  but  be  an  occasion  of 
praise.  This  explains  the  apparent  discrepancy 
between  Matthew  and  Luke,  in  their  account 
of  the  field  of  blood.  The  former  states  that 
it  was  bought  by  the  priests  and  elders  with 
the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  which  Judas  Iscariot 
had  returned  to  them.  The  latter,  in  Acts  i. 
18,  says,  "  this  man  (Judas)  purchased  a  field 
with  the  reward  of  iniquity."  The  fact  was, 
that  he  gave  occasion  for  the  transaction,  and 
the  historian  describes  him  as  the  agent. 

Frequently,  words  expressing  the  power  of 
doing  actions,  only  nienn  facility  ;  and  the  de- 
nial of  power  signifies  nothing  more  than  di^- 
culty.  In  Ruth  iv.  6,  the  near  kinsman  of  Elim- 
elech  says,  "  I  cannot  redeem  his  inheritance." 


HEBRAISMS.  257 

He  could  have  done  it,  for  lie  was  evidently  a 
man  of  property,  but  not  w^ithout  considerable 
sacrifices.  The  householder  in  our  Lord's  para- 
ble, of  whom  a  friend  solicits  admission  at  mid- 
night, replies  that  "  the  door  is  shut,  the  chil- 
dren with  him  in  bed,  and  that  he  cannot  rise." 
He  meant  that  rising  was  extremely  inconven- 
ient. So  it  is  said  of  our  Lord,  in  Mark  vi.  5, 
that  he  could  do  no  mighty  works  in  a  particu- 
lar district,  because  of  their  unbelief :  he  could 
not  with  pleasure  and  satisfaction :  it  was  pain- 
ful to  him  to  throw  his  pearls  before  such  swine. 
The  Pelagians  appeal  to  this  idiom,  when  they 
attempt  to  explain  the  sinner's  inability  to  do 
what  is  good.  He  cannot ;  because,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  strength  of  animal  impulses  and 
of  bad  education,  commencing  at  the  mother's 
breast,  it  is  extremely,  and  in  the  last  degree, 
difficult.  Their  enlightened  opponent  meets 
them,  not  by  ringing  changes  on  the  words 
"  can,"  and  "  cannot,"  violently  torn  from  their 
connection,  but  by  a  careful  study  of  the  pas- 
sages in  which  they  are  found,  directed  by  the 
laws  of  sound  interpretation. 
12* 


258  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

Words  expressing  actions,  are  often  only  de- 
claratory— denoting  the  recognition  of  them  as 
having  been  performed,  or  about  to  be.  "  Be- 
hold," says  Isaac  to  Esau,  "  I  have  made  Jacob 
thy  lord,  and  all  his  brethren  have  I  given  to 
him  for  servants."  The  only  agency  of  the 
venerable  patriarch  in  this  transaction  consisted 
in  announcing  it.  He  intended  to  say  "  I  have 
declared  Jacob  thy  lord."  In  a  like  manner, 
Jeremiah  was  set  up  by  God  "  over  the  nations, 
to  root  out,  pull  down,  and  destroy."  The 
Prophet  was  not  a  military  conqueror ;  but  as 
a  divine  messenger,  he  declared  what  should  be 
accomplished  by  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 
So  also  when  the  priest  saw  on  a  man  signs  of 
leprosy,  he  was  ordered  to  "  pollute  or  make 
him  unclean,"  Levit.  xiii.  3.  The  meaning  is 
plain  enough.  He  was  to  pronounce  him  un- 
clean, as  it  is  expressed  in  our  English  version, 
which  very  properly  rejects  the  grosser  Hebra- 
isms. 

The  7th  verse  of  the  2d  Psalm  receives  great 
light  from  this  declaratory  use  of  verbs.  "  The 
Lord  hath  said  unto  nie,  Thou  art  my  Son,  this 


HEBRAISMS.  259 

day  have  I  "begotten  thee."  Most  of  the  old 
divmes  supposed  that  David  is  here  describing 
the  actual  generation  of  the  Son  from  the  Father, 
— having  in  thought  carried  himself  back  to  a 
point  in  eternity  when  the  generation  was  sup- 
posed to  take  place.  The  words  "this  day," 
refer  to  that  imaginary  point.  The  view  can- 
not be  sustained,  and  among  other  reasons  for 
this, — that,  though  certain  transcendental  theo- 
logues  of  our  times  have  invited  themselves  to 
be  present  at  the  generation — not  only  of  the 
Son,  but  the  Father  from  the  great  bosom  of 
Nichts — nothing  of  the  kind  is  found  in  sacred 
Scriptures.  We  do  not  believe  that  the  most 
raging  delirium  could  have  made  the  pious, 
simple-hearted  Psalmist  imagine  to  himself  a 
God  beginning  to  be — or  a  God  half  formed. 
The  word  ' '  begotten,"  is  to  be  taken  declara- 
tively.  The  point  of  time  assumed  by  the 
writer  in  this  noble  Messianic  ode,  is  the  resur- 
rection of  its  subject  from  the  dead.  God  is 
represented  as  addressing  him  on  the  occasion 
— presenting  him  to  the  admiring  gaze  of  the 
whole  moral  universe  ;  and  acknowledging  the 


260  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

endearing  eternal  relation  of  which,  on  that  day^ 
he  had  given  such  magnificent  illustration.  The 
clause  may  be  thus  ]:)riefly  paraphrased  :  "  Thou 
art  my  only  begotten  and  eternal  Son.  I  here 
avow  thee  to  be  such,  and  i-equire  all  my  sub- 
jects to  honor  thee  as  a  partner  of  my  throne." 
With  perfect  propriety,  therefore,  the  Apostle 
connects  the  passage  with  our  Lord's  resurrec- 
tion: Rom.  i.  4,  "declared  to  be  the  Son  of 
God  with  power  by  his  resurrection  from  the 
dead." 

The  last  example  which  we  shall  give,  is  of 
words  signifying  action,  being  used  to  denote  the 
pei'mission  of  it ;  as  in  the  prayer  of  David, 
Psalm  cxix.  31,  "I  have  adhei'ed  to  thy  testi- 
monies :  put  me  not  to  shame."  A  more  strik- 
ing example  we  have  in  Isaiah  Ixii,  17,  "  O  Lord, 
why  hast  thou  made  us  to  err  from  thy  ways, 
and  hardened  our  heart  from  thy  fear."  Li  this 
passage  and  some  others,  the  English  reader  is 
startled  at  discovering  indications  of  the  horri- 
ble doctrine,  that  God  exercises  a  positive  agen- 
cy in  the  production  of  moral  evil.  Thus  we 
are  taught  to  pray  that  he  ' '  may  not  lead  us  in- 


HEBRAISMS.  261 

to  temptation :"  he  "  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart :" 
he  "shuts  the  eyes  of  sinners,  and  makes  their 
ears  heavy,  lest  they  see  with  their  eyes,  and 
hear  with  their  ears."  They  contain,  however, 
nothing  alarming  ;  the  whole  doctrine  which 
they  teach  being  approved  by  the  light  of  rea- 
son itself;  that  God  in  righteous  judgment  gives 
the  presumptuous  sinner  up  to  his  own  evil  im- 
pulses, permitting  him  to  "  harden  himself,  even 
under  those  means  which  he  useth  for  the  soften- 
ing of  others."*  Misapprehension  of  this  idiom 
led  many  excellent  men  in  New  England  to  pro- 
fess, without  scruple  or  limitation,  their  belief 
that  unholy  volitions  were  the  immediate  effect 
of  divine  agency.  The  race  is  nearly  extinct, 
having  been  succeeded  (as  might  be  expected 
from  the  usual  course  of  things  in  the  world) 
by  a  generation  who  seem  afraid  to  trust  the 
Supreme  Being  with  any  agency  even  in  good. 
We  have  always  reverenced  those  worthy  men. 
We  especially  admire  that  iron  intrepidity  which 
enabled  them  to  look  in  the  face  and  take  to 
their  bosoms  so  ugly  a  monster,  from  simple  re- 

*  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith. 


262  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

gard  to  the  divine  will.  Yet  none  who  read 
their  writings  can  ftxil  to  see  that  they  were  very 
far  from  home  in  scripture  exegesis,  as  well  as 
blinded  on  this  and  some  other  subjects  by  a 
false  metaphysic,  carried  out  with  such  remorse- 
less consistency  that  Christianity  became  in  their 
teaching  of  it  positively  frightful. 

The  student  will  be  making  small  progress 
in  the  knowledge  of  his  Bible,  who  does  not 
soon  find  that  we  have  been  giving  only  a  few 
specimens  of  its  phraseology.  Let  him  devote 
his  best  powers  of  attention  to  it ;  for  there  is 
not  a  tree  in  the  garden  which  yields  more  pre- 
cious fruit.  What  especially  recommends  it,  is 
the  fact  that,  in  exploring  the  Hebraisms  of  the 
Bible,  we  go  to  the  very  fountainhead  of  knowl- 
edge concerning  the  meaning  of  those  important 
and  constantly  recurring  words,  by  which  the 
New  Testament  writers  describe  the  fundamen- 
tal truths  of  Christianity:  such  as  faith^  propi- 
tiation^ redemption^  atonement^  churchy  baptism, 
7rgeneratio?i,  justification,  and  righteousness.  Let 
a  young  man  tolerably  versed  in  the  languages  sit 
down  as  ignorant  as  a  babe  of  the  Gospel,  Snd 


PROPHECY.  263 

study  these  words  carefully,  as  he  finds  them  in 
his  Hebrew  and  Greek  Old  Testament,  with  no 
other  human  aid  but  a  good  dictionary  and  con- 
cordance,— we  promise  him,  with  unbounded  con- 
fidence, that  he  will  obtain  an  infinitely  clearer 
notion  of  them  in  a  single  week  than  by  read- 
ing five  hundred  folios  of  polemic  divinity. 


RULE    IX. 


Much  of  Scripture  being  Prophetical,  we  should 
acquaint  ourselves  with  the  nature  and  laws  of 
that  kind  of  composition.  This  is  far  from  easy. 
No  department  of  theology  has  occasioned  so 
much  perplexity  to  serious  inquirers,  and  the 
subject  is  still  beset  with  difficulties  which  we 
have  little  hope  will  soon  be  removed.  God 
has  suffered  clouds  and  darkness  to  rest  on  it 
for  the  wisest  reasons,  some  of  which  are  ob- 
vious. He  would  not  deprive  his  church  of 
the  privilege  which  she  has  enjoyed  in  every 
age  and  place,  of  walking  by  faith.  He  would 
not,  by  exhibiting  a  clear  picture  of  the  future, 


264  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

disturb  the  freedom  of  his  creatures,  and  the 
natural  course  of  human  events :  in  short,  he 
would  teach  that  our  religion  provides  other 
business  for  us,  than  to  indulge  a  childish  curi- 
osity as  to  "times  and  seasons."  We  would 
not  therefore  encourage  the  student  to  speculate 
much  on  this  subject.  The  predictions  which 
have  been  fulfilled,  especially  those  accomplished 
in  the  advent  of  our  Redeemer,  deserve  all  at- 
tention— being  the  strongest  confirmation  of  the 
truth  of  our  holy  religion,  and  arguments  of  re- 
sistless force  against  the  Infidel.  As  to  futurity 
— let  the  "  sapphire  throne,"'  borne  by  the  flam- 
ing cherubim,  take  its  own  mighty  course. 
There  is  a  "  living  Spirit  in  the  wheels,"  who 
keeps  his  own  counsel,  and  seems,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  past  success  of  Apocalyptic 
commentators,  to  treat  with  very  little  respect 
the  numerous  attempts  to  advise  him.  Scan  as 
curiously  as  you  will  the  car  of  Providence  in 
its  magnificent  progress  through  the  earth  :  but 
choose  wisely  your  post  of  observation,  and  by 
all  means  mount  up  behind  ! 

This  doctrine  would  through  many  strike  a 


PROPHECY.  265 

grievous  chill,  if  they  could  be  brought  to  sus- 
pect that  it  is  true.  They  like  to  think  that 
the  Author  of  destiny  has  constituted  them 
members  of  his  privy  council,  and  given  a  pro- 
gramme of  all  that  is  to  turn  up  in  our  little 
planet  till  the  final  conflagration.  Not  a  few  spec- 
ulate on  the  subject  with  such  absorbing  inter- 
est, that  they  evidently  consider  it  paramount  to 
every  other — neglecting  much  of  their  true  life- 
work  to  sjoell  out — not  by  the  stars,  but  data 
equally  fanciful — the  how  and  when  God  will  ac- 
complish his.  We  fear  that  the  cuiiosity  by  which 
they  are  actuated  is  more  prurient  than  pious, 
and  feel  quite  sui"e  that  Holy  Scripture,  fairly 
interpreted,  does  not  gratify  it.  The  predictions 
of  the  Old  Testament  cover  a  space  extending 
at  most  only  six  or  seven  hundred  years,  from 
the  times  of  Isaiah  till  the  advent  of  Messiah, 
after  which  we  have  nothing  definite — only  the 
general  fact  that  his  kingdom  shall  be  estab- 
lished forever.  In  the  judgment  of  many  en- 
lightened scholars,  the  book  of  Kevelation,  over 
which  are  constantly  rolling  such,  floods  of  exe- 
getical  darkness,  does  not  look  forward  more 


266  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

than  tliree  liuudrecl.  commencintj:  with  the  Lord's 
ascension,  and  stopping  at  the  firm  establishment 
of  Christianity  through  the  extent  of  the  Ro- 
man emj^ire ;  the  immense  interval  between 
Constantine  and  the  glorious  issue  of  its  contest 
with  the  powers  of  evil  being  unfilled,  and  the 
vision  closing,  as  we  have  stated,  with  the  for- 
mer event — except  that  there  are  in  the  two  last 
chapters  some  gorgeous  paintings  of  the  re- 
deemed commonwealth  as  she  will  be  when  her 
victory  is  complete.  They  affirm,  strongly,  that 
the  gentlemen  who  find  the  whole  of  modern 
history  in  Apocalyptic  dragons,  locusts,  seals, 
falling  stars,  and  earthquakes,  entirely  misjudge 
the  book,  and  have  no  ground  to  stand  upon. 
We  will  not  arbitrate  the  question  ;  but  we  fear 
not  to  say,  that  the  advocates  of  this  opinion  are 
among  the  most  learned  and  in  every  way  relia- 
ble theoloo^ians  of  the  ao-e.  So  wearisome  and 
unsatisfactory  was  the  attempt  to  unriddle  the 
book  on  principles  generally  recognized  by 
Protestants  in  his  day  to  the  great  Calvin, — that 
after  completing  his  exposition  of  all  the  epis- 
tles he  would  go  no  further,  saying,  "  I  have  not 


PROPHECY.  267 

commented  on  the  Revelation,  because  I  do 
not  understand  it."  Many  who  have  comment- 
ed, practically  say  quite  as  much.  They  do  not 
of  course  know  it,  but  the  Reformer's  ' '  non  intel- 
ligo"  is  inscribed  on  every  page  of  their  writings. 

The  following  hints  on  the  general  subject  of 
Prophecy  may  be  of  use. 

1st.  Remember  that  the  diction  of  this  part  of 
Scripture  is  intensely  poetical.  Not  only  were  its 
authors  poets  in  the  common  sense  of  the  word, 
but  in  its  richest  and  noblest  acceptation.  In 
splendor  of  imagination — in  the  gorgeous  color- 
ing which  they  throw  over  every  thing  they  de- 
scribe— in  boldness  of  imagery  and  enthusiastic 
glow  of  feeling,  they  excel  all  other  authors.  How 
miserably  such  noble  spirits  will  be  explained 
by  those  who  treat  their  productions  as  if  they 
were  discourses  on  History  or  Civil  Govern- 
ment, we  need  not  say.  Quite  as  little  may  be 
expected  from  those  who  discover  in  their  writ- 
ings a  dark  and  tangled  forest  of  hieroglyphics  ; 
insist  that  every  image  is  a  definite  symbol  of 
invariable  signification,  and  actually  turn  the 
noblest   creations  of  genius  into  an  Egyptian 


268  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

alphabet,  of  which  these  great  Champollions 
have  been  fortunate  enough  to  discover  the  key 
that  enables  them  to  decipher  the  most  crabbed 
page  in  the  book  of  destiny  ! 

2d.  They  were  while  composing  their  predictions 
in  a  state  ofecstacy  or  high  super7iatural  excitement^ 
produced  immediately  by  the  inspiring  Spirit. 
The  influence  they  were  under,  we  have  reason 
to  think,  was  of  a  much  more  engrossing  and 
controlling  character  than  that  which  illuminated 
the  minds  of  the  Apostles.  The  latter,  while 
they  thought  the  thoughts  and  spoke  the  words 
of  God,  retained  all  their  mental  activity  and 
self-command.  Their  ideas  seem  to  have  risen 
spontaneously,  according  to  the  laws  of  associa- 
tion, nor  do  we  discover  any  traces  of  a  com- 
pulsory necessity,  in  the  election  of  some,  and 
the  rejection  of  others.  No  enlightened  readers 
of  Paul,  for  instance,  can  doubt  that  he  thought 
out  every  thing  he  said,  as  fully  as  if  he  had 
not  been  under  heavenly  influence.  His  person- 
ality mingles  itself  in  every  sentiment  he  utters. 
He  sends  courteous  salutations  to  private  friends; 
describes  his  feelings  on  hearing  favorable  or 


PROPHECY.  269 

painful  accounts  of  them;  reminds  his  young 
favorite  Timothy  of  his  ill  health ;  sj)eaks  of  a 
certain  "cloak"  which  he  had  left  at  Troas, 
"  as  also  the  parchments ;"  hopes  to  visit  some 
of  them,  though  he  is  not  certain ;  nay,  there 
are  strong  indications,  in  one  or  two  cases,  of  his 
concluding  a  letter,  and  then  returning  to  it  for 
the  purpose  of  adding  something  new. 

With  the  prophets  it  was  different.  They 
"were  carried  away,"  as  the  Apostle  Peter  ex- 
presses it,  by  the  inspiring  God,  and  seem  rather 
to  be  acted  on,  than  voluntary  agents.  Hence 
those  various  expressions  which  represent  "  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  as  coming  upon  them,"  and 
their  yielding  to  his  influence  as  something  in- 
voluntary on  their  part,  accompanied  with  a 
feeling  of  horror  and  great  darkness,  and  some- 
times a  falling  to  the  ground  :  Gen.  xv.,  12  ; 
Num.  xxiv.,  4;  1  Sam.  xix.,  20.  This  is,  of 
course,  to  be  understood  comparatively ;  for  we 
have  already  observed,  that  even  prophecy  did 
not  entirely  paralyze  reason  and  self- conscious- 
ness. But  they  were  certainly  wrought  upon 
in  a  much    more   powerful   manner    than   the 


270  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

other  holy  men  who  were  honored  with  a  divine 
afflatus.  Though  not  mere  machines,  nor  agi- 
tated with  a  blind  ftiry  like  the  ancient  Pythia 
of  Delphos,  they  were  yet  not  entirely  them- 
selves. The  powers  of  perception  and  volition 
were  for  a  time  partially  suspended,  and  their 
minds  became  so  many  placid  mirrors,  from 
which  were  reflected  the  pure  I'ays  of  heavenly 
truth. 

3d.  In  this  state  they  saw  objects  as  present  to 
them.  The  various  incidents  and  transactions 
which  were  revealed,  imprinted  themselves  viv- 
idly on  their  imaginations  and  with  all  the  force 
of  living  truth,  so  that  they  possess  an  ideal 
reality,  similar  to  that  which  objects  have  in 
dreams.  Hence  the  frequency  with  which  they 
are  called  "  seers,"  and  their  revelations  "  vis- 
ions." Thus  Balaam,  who  was  doubtless  a 
true  prophet,  describes  himself,  as  "  the  man 
whose  eyes  are  opened,  who  heard  the  words 
of  God,  who  saw  the  vision  of  the  Almighty, 
having  fallen  upon  tlie  ground."  Similar  were 
the  revelations  of  Isaiah:  "In  the  year  that 
king  Uzziah  died,"  he  says,  ^'- 1  saw — the  Lord 


PROPHECY.  271 

sitting  upon  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up,  and 
his  train  tilled  the  temple.''  On  another  occa- 
.  sioD,  he  sees — a  hero  inarching  forward  in  splen- 
did apparel,  stained  with  the  blood  of  conquered 
enemies,  and  exclaims  in  admiration,  as  if  per- 
sonally addressing  him  :  "  Who  is  this  that  com- 
eth  from  Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah, 
that  is  glorious  in  his  apparel,  travelling  in  the 
greatness  of  his  strength?  "  Ezekiel,  when  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  was  on  him,  "  saw  and  passed 
through  a  valley  of  dry  bones,"  which,  after 
being  addressed  by  the  prophet  at  the  divine 
commandment,  "  came  together,  bone  to  bone, 
and  the  breath  came  into  them,  and  they  stood 
up  an  exceeding  great  army."  Habakkuk  stands 
upon  his  watch-tower,  to  see — what  God  will 
say  and  exhibit  to  him.  These  were  not  rare 
and  isolated  cases.  They  were  of  a  more  strik- 
ing character  than  many,  but  they  illustrate  the 
general  mode  in  which  the  prophetic  mind  was 
affected.  In  short,  we  may  consider  the  future 
events  predicted,  as  a  large  and  magnificent 
panorama,  encompassing  the  sacred  visonary  on 
every  side,  and  becoming  for  a  time  his  whole 


272  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

world   of    being,   in    whicli   he   breathes,    and 
moves,  as  if  in  his  proper  home. 

He  did  not,  however,  see  them  in  their  strict 
relations  to  each  other^  7ior  in  their  chronological 
connection.  Grod  did  not  think  fit  to  exhibit  a 
clear  and  perfect  map,  for  wise  reasons.  Each 
saw  pieces,  membra  disjecta  of  the  mighty  whole : 
but  in  no  one  place  do  we  find  a  prophet  giving 
a  symmetrical  view  of  the  entire  compass  of  a 
sul)ject.  Sometimes  we  find  a  rich  delineation 
of  the  person  of  Christ ;  at  others,  a  description 
of  his  kingdom  and  the  glories  of  his  reign. 
Here,  note  is  taken  of  him,  as  meek,  gentle, 
compassionate,  who  "  will  not  break  the  bruised 
reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax."  There,  he 
is  seen  striking  through  kings  in  the  day  of  his 
wrath,  filling  the  places  with  dead  bodies,  and 
wounding  the  head  over  many  countries.  Some 
prophets  say  not  a  word  of  his  humiliation  and 
cruel  suiferings  —  Malachi  for  example.  Only 
two  advert  to  his  remarkable  forerunner.  Some- 
times the  vision  is  sad  and  melancholy,  exhibit- 
ing the  rejection  of  the  Jews  on  account  of 
their  unbelief,  and  their  utter  dissolution  as  a 


PROPHECY.  273 

people.  At  others,  all  is  joy  and  sunsliine.  The 
city  is  rebuilt,  the  sanctuary  is  restored,  all 
kings  of  the  earth  bring  their  treasures  to  it, 
and  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  return  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads.  This 
fragmentary  character  of  prophecy  is  a  very 
striking  and  important  one.  The  want  of  duly 
considering  it,  is  the  principal  cause  of  those 
complaints  we  often  hear,  especially  from  infi- 
dels, concerning  the  darkness  of  this  part  of 
revelation.  Were  such  to  sit  down  and  care- 
fully unite  the  scattered  pieces  into  a  whole, 
they  would  be  astonished  to  find  how  clearly,  as 
well  as  fully  and  consistently,  the  Christian  Sav- 
iour is  delineated. 

Equally  deserving  notice  is  the  fact,  that  they 
seldom  perceive  objects  as  related  to  each  other  in 
time.  The  reason  has  been  already  stated. 
They  were  in  the  midst  of  what  they  saw,  like 
a  man  in  a  dream.  The  events  of  a  far  distant 
future  were  so  many  present  realities  on  which 
they  gazed  with  terror  or  delight ;  unsuspicious, 
probably,  that  ages  would  elapse  before  the  ful- 
filment. Thus  Isaiah,  chapter  ix.  5,  speaks  of 
13 


274  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

Messiali  as  if  already  born,  and  entering  into 
his  kino^dom:  "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto 
us  a  Son  is  given,  and  his  name  is  called  Won- 
derful, Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God."  In  chap- 
ter xlii.  1,  he  directly  points  to  him:  "  Behold 
my  servant  whom  I  uphold,  mine  elect  in  whom 
my  soul  delighteth."  Instances  of  this  are 
numberless.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that 
events  most  widely  separated  from  each  other 
should  be  blended  in  prophetic  description,  and 
treated  as  continuous.  They  saw  them  in  dus- 
ters— not  in  chronological  succession. 

Thus  in  the  10th  chapter  of  Isaiah,  we  have 
a  thrilling  account  of  the  destruction  of  the  As- 
syrians, which  took  place  at  least  six  centuries 
before  the  coming  of  Christ.  Yet  the  prophet 
joins  it  immediately  with  that  event,  by  the 
ordinary  copulative :  ^^And  there  shall  come 
forth  a  rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a 
branch  shall  grow  out  of  his  roots."  The  con- 
junction of  this  great  event  with  the  return 
from  Babylon,  is  so  frequent  as  to  strike  the 
most  careless  reader.  Our  Kedeemer's  prophe- 
cies display  the  same  character.     In  the  remark- 


PROPHECY.  275 

able  prediction  contained  in  the  24tli  of  Mat- 
thew, two  great  objects  hovered  before  his  mind: 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  to  take  place  in 
less  than  forty  years ;  and  his  final  coming  in 
glory.  Yet  he  passes  from  the  former  to  the 
latter  at  once,  and  even  intimates  the  succession 
by  a  word,  (^ev^ecog,^  whicli  seems  to  exclude 
all  interval  or  delay:  verse  29,  '"'■  Immediatehj 
after  the  tribulation  of  those  days  (the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem)  shall  the  sign  of  the  Son  of 
man  appear,  and  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  shall 
wail,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great 
glory ;  and  he  shall  send  his  angels,"  <fec.  If 
any  wonder  that  he  should  have  conjoined  two 
events  so  distinct  from  each  other,  by  the  strong 
adverb  ei^^eojg,  let  him  consider  that  when  our 
Redeemer  assumed  the  prophet's  mantle,  he  vol- 
imtarily  placed  himself  under  the  prophet's 
laws.  He  saw  objects  precisely  as  Isaiah  would 
have  done,  and  spoke  as  he  saw. 

This  characteristic  of  the  prophetic  writings 
is  inscribed  on  almost  every  page.  All  the 
Messianic  passages  exhibit  it  in  a  greater  or  less 


276  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

degree  ;  many  of  them,  for  instance,  placing  the 
final  consummation  of  all  things  in  immediate 
juxtaposition  with  the  first  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  The  field  of  sacred  vision  may,  in  this 
respect,  be  compared  to  a  clear  midnight  sky. 
We  see  the  stars  above  our  heads, — star  differ- 
ing from  star  in  magnitude  and  brightness, — but 
their  relative  distance  from  us,  or  from  each 
other,  we  unable  even  to  conjecture. 

The  subject  may  be  illustrated  by  a  fact  in 
mental  philosophy.  It  is  now  well  understood 
that  sight  gives  no  primary  information  concern- 
ing distance  in  any  case  whatever.  We  obtain 
it  from  touch.  Having  acquired  by  the  constant 
handling  of  objects  notions  of  their  comparative 
nearness  or  remoteness,  we  associate  with  them 
the  various  impressions  received  by  the  eye,  and 
learn  to  infer  their  distance  in  the  use  of  this 
organ  alone.  Its  informations,  however,  entire- 
ly depend  on  the  previous  handli?ig.  Without 
experience,  sight  would  be  perfectly  helpless — 
as  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  persons  born  blind, 
who  have  suddenly  obtained  their  sight,  cannot 
for  some  time  even  walk  the  streets.     Every 


PROPHECY.  277 

thing  appears  to  theni  fixed  in  a  plane,  till  re- 
peated trials  have  taught  them  to  correct  the 
illusion.  Supposing,  therefore,  a  state  of  things 
in  which,  by  reason  of  the  great  remoteness  or 
inaccessibleness  of  objects,  experiment  is  impos- 
sible, it  is  clear  that  sight  would  be  forever  at 
fault,  and  unable  to  form  the  least  notion  of  the 
relations  in  space  which  they  bear  to  each  other. 
Such  was  actually  the  state  of  the  prophet.  He 
had  no  measure  by  which  to  judge  of  the  real 
size  or  proportion  of  the  events  he  foresaw. 
He  was  ushered  into  a  new  world,  nothing 
belonging  to  which  he  had  ever  touched — 
where  all  was  etherial— boundless — "  dark  by  ex- 
cessive bright."  Nothing  in  his  own  experience, 
or  that  of  his  nation,  or  of  mankind  at  large, 
offered  the  slightest  clue  to  guide  him  through 
the  wondrous  scene  ;  as  Isaiah  distinctly  com- 
memorates, ' '  From  the  beginning  of  the  world 
men  have  not  heard,  nor  perceived  by  the  ear ; 
neither  hath  the  eye  seen,  O  God,  beside  thee, 
what  he  hath  prepared  for  him  that  awaiteth 
on  him."  No  wonder  that  he  was  utterly 
lost  in  the  contemplation,  and  stood  amazed — 


278  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

like  the  man  blind  from  his  birth,  when  his 
darkened  eyeballs  first  open  on  the  glories  of 
the  visible  universe ! 

4th.  As  the  scenes  and  events  described  were 
present  to  him,  so  their  dress  and  coloring  were 
harrowed  from  objects,  with  which  as  a  Jew  he  was 
familiar.  The  whole  representation  having  the 
nature  of  a  picture  addressed  to  the  eye,  it  was 
necessary  that  a  certain  system  of  imagery  be 
adopted,  in  which  the  great  moral  truths  should 
lie  enshrined,  as  in  a  beautiful  casket.  This 
imagery  must  be  familiar  to  him  and  the  peo- 
ple ;  otherwise  it  would  be  unintelligible.  Hence 
we  find  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  always 
exhibited  by  ideas  taken  from  the  national  the- 
ocracy. Messiah  is  not  only  "  Son  of  David," 
but  "  David"  himself.  Mount  Zion  and  Jerusa- 
lem, the  religious  and  civil  metropolis  of  the 
nation,  signify  the  Church  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  the  only  true  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  serv- 
ing God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  The  aggrandize- 
ment and  enlargement  of  Jerusalem,  are  the  en- 
largement and  increase  of  that  church.  Her 
enemies  are  called  by  the  names  of  the  ancient 


PROPHECY.  279 

enemies    of    Judali — Egypt,    Amnion,     Moab, 
Edom,  and  Babylon.     The  restoration  of  tlie 
Jews  in  latter  days  to  the  blessings  of  God's 
covenant,  is  symbolized  by  tlieir  rebuilding  a 
temple  on  Mount  Moriah ;  and  the  union  of  all 
nations  in  the   love  and  worship  of   God,  is 
shadowed  forth  by  a  universal  participation  in 
the  feast  of  tabernacles.     The  extinction  of  sec- 
tarian feuds,  and  the  delightful  harmony  pre- 
vailing  among   the  lovers  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  es23ecially  the  redeemed  children  of  Abra- 
ham, are  beautifully  represented  by  the  healing  of 
the  ancient  separation  between  Israel  and  Judah. 
There  is  nothing  strange  in  this.     It  is  per- 
fectly natural  to  invest  our  conceptions  with  the 
hue  appropriate  to  our  physical  and  moral  con- 
dition, and  the  ol^jects  with  which  we  are  daily 
conversant.      Where  could  the   prophet    have 
gone,  if  precluded  from  this  source  of  coloring  ? 
Besides,  there  was  a  most  serious  truth  at  the 
bottom.     Our  blessed  Saviour  tells  us  that  he 
came  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil — in 
other  words,  that  his  religion  is  but  the  purifi- 
cation and  expansion  of  the  faith  of  God's  an- 


280  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

cient  people.  How  entirely  becoming  tlien  was 
it,  tliat  the  spirit  of  propliecy  sliould  paint  its 
future  glory  in  tliose  forms  of  thought  to  which 
the  people  were  accustomed,  and  which  were  so 
dear  to  the  national  heart ! 

These  remarks  have  perhaps  been  unduly  pro- 
tracted. But  the  subject  is  important,  and,  we 
think,  not  always  understood.  Besides,  our 
statement  of  general  principles  relieves  from  the 
necessity  of  entering  into  a  minute  detail  of 
rules :  two  only  shall  be  specified. 

1st.  Be  not  anxious  to  find  chro7iological  con- 
nection and  order  in  the  prophecies.  They  are  all 
fragmentary,  and  exhibit  their  subject  in  de- 
tached pieces.  We  have  also  seen  that  events 
the  most  widely  separated  in  time  are  grouped 
together,  as  if  contemporary,  or  immediately 
following  each  other.  Due  regard  to  this  will 
enable  us  to  dispense  with  many  violent  expe- 
dients which  have  been  resorted  to  by  the 
learned ;  especially  with  the  irrational  assump- 
tion of  a  "  double  sense"  in  prophecy.  That 
which  gave  it  favor  with  commentators,  was  the 
fact  above  stated,  that  events  far  separated  in 


PROPHECY.  281 

time  were  closely  connected  in  description — to 
explain  which  they  found  it  convenient  to  sup- 
pose two  distinct  fulfilments.    The  first  they  im- 
agined to  take  place  in  some  event  which  oc- 
curred among  the  Jewish  people  during  the  ex- 
istence of  their  oeconomy.  The  second,  and  more 
perfect,  was  realized  in  the  advent  of  the  Sav- 
iour.   To  give  the  scheme  greater  respectability, 
it  was  married  to  Typology,  who  adopted  the 
children  as  her  own,  calling  the  temporal  fulfil- 
ment the  type,  and  the  other  the  antitype.     A 
good  example  occurs  in  the  10th  and  11th  chap- 
ters of  Isaiah  already  quoted.     The  10th  an- 
nounces the  destruction  of  the  Assyrian  empire. 
In  the  11th  the  prophet  advances  at  once  to  the 
glories  of  the  Messiah's  reign — when  "  the  wolf 
shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  with 
the  kid,   and  nothing  shall  hurt   nor  destroy, 
ill  all  God's  holy  mountain."     Yet  not  a  few 
contend  that  this  magnificent  prophecy  had  a 
primary  fulfilment  in  Hezekiah  ;   though  they 
grant  a  far  more  complete  accomplishment  in 
our  Redeemer,  of  whom  we  need  not  add  that 
they  suppose  Hezekiah  to  have  been  a  type ! 
13* 


282  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

The  view  is  arbitrary  beyond  measure,  and 
opposed  to  facts.  We  maintain,  without  fear, 
that,  wherever  Christ  is  definitely  spoken  of  at 
all,  he  is  spoken  of  alone ^  and  where  the  bles- 
sedness of  his  rule  is  delineated,  no  other  bles- 
sedness is  delineated.  Even  in  the  Messianic 
Psalms  he  is  the  entire  subject.  David  may  have 
gathered  materials  of  his  descriptions  from  inci- 
dents in  his  own  life  and  experience,  but  in  no 
proper  sense  does  he  speak  of  himself  His  ex- 
alted "  Lord"  is  the  all  in  all  which  occupies  his 
mind.  When  you  meet,  therefore,  a  passage, 
connecting  at  once  the  coming  of  a  glorious 
epoch  with  the  rebuilding  of  the  tem2')le  after 
the  Babylonish  caj)tivity,  dismiss  all  anxiety  to 
find  it  partially  or  typically  fulfilled  in  Zerrub- 
babel,  or  Alexander  the  Great,  or  the  Maccabees ; 
but  instantly  transport  yourselves  into  Messian- 
ic times,  or,  if  necessary,  to  the  consummation 
of  all  things.  The  notion  that  prophecy  has 
two  senses,  a  primary  and  secondary,  throws  a 
dark  cloud  of  suspicion  over  both — almost  con- 
ceding to  the  infidel  that  it  is  a  kind  of  writing 
which  cannot  be  understood  by  the  ordinary 


PROPHECY.  283 

laws  of  exegesis.  Above  all,  it  is  fatal  to  the 
argument  drawn  from  this  source  in  favor  of  the 
Gospel.  When  we  advance  a  prediction  from 
the  Old  Testament  to  establish  the  divine  mis- 
sion of  Jesus,  its  whole  proving  force  lies  in  this 
— that  a  series  of  events  is  announced  which 
was  verified  in  him,  and  him  alone.  But  if  we 
discover  a  specific  meaning  in  it  which  has  no 
reference  to  him,  the  infidel  by  accepting  it 
relieves  himself  from  all  pressure — reminding 
us  of  our  discovery,  and  waving  off  the  second- 
ary and  mystical  senses  we  offer  him  with  a  po- 
lite but  peremptory  "  Credat  Judseus  Apella." 

It  is  surprising  to  what  length  this  mode  of 
interpreting  the  Old  Testament  has  been  carried. 
Grotius  may  be  quoted  as  an  example,  who  does 
not  find  more  than  six  passages  in  the  whole 
volume  which  immediately  relate  to  the  Saviour, 
On  the  other  hand,  he  gives  hint  the  benefit  of 
the  other  sense  with  princely  liberality — as  for 
instance  in  his  commentary  on  the  fifty^third 
chapter  of  Isaiah.  He  actually  makes  the  won^ 
derful  personage  there  delineated, — whose  vica- 
rious sufferings  and  glorious   exaltation,  after 


284  INTEEPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

redeeming  liis  people,  are  described  with  such 
strength  of  expression  and  perfect  accordance 
with  the  New  Testament  portraiture  of  Christ, 
that  it  seems  rather  history  than  prediction, — to 
be  the  prophet  Jeremiah  !  !     He  grants,  indeed, 
at  the  commencement,  that  in  "  a  more  sublime 
sense  "  it  applies  to  the  Messiah :   l)ut  that  this 
is  only  a  graceful  bow — a  "  leaving  his  card 
with  compliments  " — appears  very  clearly  in  the 
fact  that  he  scarcely  mentions  him  again,  while 
"Jeremiah"  stands  out  prominently  in  every 
verse.     We  confess  that  in  reading  such  things, 
we  can  scarcely  repress  a  suspicion  that  the  au- 
thor, though  a  sincere  Christian,  as  well  as  the 
most  learned  man  of  his  day,  was  not  exactly 
honest.     At  least  we  would  feel  quite  willing 
that  a  book  really  needing  this  kind  of  exposi- 
tion were  consigned  to  the  lumber-room  of  the 
antiquary.     Thus  treated,  the  whole  prophetic 
record,  instead  of  being  a  buttress  to  Christian- 
ity, would  be  a  "  bowing  wall  and  a  tottering 
fence,"  which  its  enli2:htened  advocate  would 
be  glad  to  see  cleared  away  to  the  last  stone ! 
Yet  there  are  few  errors  in  the  world  made 


PROPHECY.  285 

up  of  pure  falseliood,  and  even  this  contains 
something  which  entitles  it  to  benefit  of  clergy. 
There  are  prophecies  which,  from  their  indefinite 
and  general  nature,  admit  manifold  applications, 
and  are  not  necessarily  determined  to  one  spe- 
cific event.  In  other  words,  they  contain  or 
are  based  on  certahi  great  principles,  adopted  by 
God  in  the  government  of  the  church  and  the 
world,  which  principles  develop  themselves  in 
all  appropriate  circumstances.  This  is  entirely 
different  from  the  double  sense  referred  to. 
The  sense  is  one :  but  as  with  all  general  enun- 
ciations, there  is  a  pregnancy  in  it  which  allows 
its  fulfilment — not  a  second  time  merely,  but  a 
tenth,  or,  if  it  please  God,  a  thousandth.  Thus, 
when  he  promises  that  after  long  chastising  the 
dauo'htei*  of  Zion,  he  will  return  and  heal  her 
backsliding— that  he  will  impart  to  her  children 
true  repentance  for  their  sins,  and  establish, 
as  of  old,  his  throne  in  the  midst  of  them — that 
their  enemies  shall  be  confounded,  their  number 
increased,  the  Gentile  nations  bow  down  before 
them,  tfec,  we  know  that  they  are  general  truths 
— edicts  of  perpetual  force,  which,  though  spoken 


286  INTERPRETATION   OF   SCRIPTURE. 

immediately  in  connection  with  a  single  event 
in  Listory,  have  a  far  more  extensive  application. 
They  will  be  always  verified — though  more  strik- 
ingly at  one  period  than  another.  The  deliver- 
ance from  Babylon,  for  instance,  was  j^art  of  a 
comprehensive  scheme  of  divine  wisdom  and 
mercy,  which,  ages  before,  wrought  similar  re- 
demptions, and  would  unfold  itself  still  more 
gloriously  in  the  distant  future. 

We  have  here  a  beautiful  feature  of  the  divine 
government,  well  deserving  our  study.  It  does 
not  proceed  capriciously,  or  with  a  zigzag  move- 
ment, like  the  schemes  of  men;  but  steadily 
onward,  according  to  a  few  great  ideas  in  the 
bosom  of  God ;  so  that,  though  a  careless  ob- 
server sees  nothing  around  him  but  change  and 
accident,  there  is  really  nothing  that  can  be 
called  new  under  the  sun.  The  Messiah  him- 
self lived  before  his  coming,  in  dark,  shadowy 
resemblances — being  the  crowning  realization  of 
a  great  thought,  that  has  been  ever  present  to 
the  divine  mind,  and  shapes  all  its  plans  and 
purposes — the  thought,  that  as  man,  by  his  own 
free-will,  produced  the  whole  mass  of  evil  under 


PROPHECY.  287 

whose  heavy  weight  he  ceaselessly  groans,  so 
his  victory  over  them  must  be  achieved  by  him- 
self. Suffering  humanity  is  to  find  her  deliverer 
in  her  own  lacerated  bosom  !  The  drama  of  re- 
demption ojDened  in  paradise  with  this  proem. 
In  that  first  word  of  hope  which  cheered  the 
hearts  of  our  unhappy  parents,  by  the  assurance 
that  their  seed  should  "  bruise  the  head  "  of  their 
adversary,  a  principle  was  contained  that  did 
not  sleep  through  the  long  interval  of  four  thou- 
sand years,  and  then  suddenly  awaken,  to 
usher  in  the  great  author  of  our  spiritual  re- 
demj)tion — but  it  put  forth  its  living  energy 
through  every  successive  age,  in  those  noble 
spirits,  whose  achievements  in  the  cause  of  God 
and  human  happiness,  proved  that  there  was  a 
power  at  work  in  tlie  world  greater  than  that  of 
evil. 

In  this  point  of  view,  we  admit,  with  a  feel- 
ing very  different  from  reluctance,  that  the 
prophecies  of  Messiah's  day  were  also  so  many 
indirect  pointings  to  events  which  preceded  it, 
and  bore  to  it  a  certain  analogy,  as  expressions 
of  one  great  law.     As  the  terrible  cataclysms 


288  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

wliicli  change  the  face  of  nature  are  usually  in- 
troduced by  strange  appalling  sounds  and  con- 
vulsive heavings,  that  may  be  called  her  sighs 
and  notes  of  woe,  in  anticipation  of  the  ap- 
proaching catastrophe,  so  the  jubilee  of  man's 
salvation  had  its  glad  precursors.  The  anthem 
sung  by  angels  on  the  plains  of  Bethlehem  at 
the  advent  of  its  glorious  author,  was  not 
entirely  new.  Ten  centuries  before  that  mem- 
orable night,  an  ear  open  to  celestial  melodies 
might  have  heard  its  faint  echo  and  reverbera- 
tion on  the  same  favored  spot,  at  the  birth  of  a 
royal  man-child,  in  the  cot  of  Jesse !  So  far,  we 
are  willing  to  go :  all  this,  we  lovingly  embrace  : 
but  still  retaining  a  mortal  antipathy  to  the  doc- 
trine, as  usually  understood,  of  a  "  double 
sense." 

2.  Do  not  i7iterpret  prophecy  too  literally.  Its 
splendid  imagery,  and  glowing  pictures  must 
not  be  tortured  into  statements,  such  as  a  wit- 
ness makes  in  a  court  of  justice,  or  a  historian 
in  describing  the  campaigns  of  Wellington  or 
Bonaparte :  they  whq  figures^  and  must  be  treated 
as  figures.     Here  our  Millenarian  brethren,  we 


PROPHECY.  289 

think,  err  exceedingly.  Their  whole  hypothesis 
of  the  Jews  becoming  preeminent  '^s  a  nation 
over  all  the  people  of  the  earth,  the  actual  sub- 
jugation of  the  latter  under  their  political  sway, 
the  rebuilding  of  the  temple,  the  resurrection  of 
the  martyrs,  and  the  personal  residence  of  Christ 
as  a  temporal  monarch  in  Jerusalem,  rests  on 
no  other  basis  than  the  assumption,  that  tropes, 
when  found  in  the  Bible,  tell  the  literal  truth. 
It  is  the  very  error  committed  by  the  carnal 
Jews  themselves,  and  which  led  to  their  rejec- 
tion of  the  Just  One.  Inflated  with  the  most 
fantastic  hopes  and  anticipations  nurtured  by 
their  mistaken  interpretation  of  Prophetic  sym- 
bols, they  crucified  their  Prince,  not  because  he 
failed  in  proving  his  celestial  mission,  but  be- 
cause he  had  nothing  to  offer  them  except  a 
' '  kingdom  that  was  righteousness,  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

To  the  instances  already  cited,  pi'oving  that 
the  imagery  taken  from  the  Theocracy  was  sym- 
bolical of  great  moral  and  spiritual  truths,  we 
add  the  following,  merely  as  specimens:  the 
student  must  pursue  the  investigation  for  him- 


290  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

self.  In  the  latter  part  of  tlie  lltli  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  we  have  a  magnificent  account  of  the 
martial  gathering  of  the  Jews  under  the  stand- 
ard of  the  Messiah,  and  their  brilliant  conquests 
over  enemies.  The  question  is,  whether  we 
must  understand  it  literally.  Try  the  principle 
upon  the  14th  verse ;  "  But  they  shall  fly  upon 
the  shoulders  [the  figure  is  taken  from  the 
pouncing  of  a  ravenous  bird]  of  the  Philistines 
toward  the  west;  they  shall  lay  their  hand 
upon  Edom  and  Moab,  and  the  children  of  Am- 
mon  shall  obey  them."  These  were  the  ancient 
enemies  of  the  theocracy,  and  are,  according  to 
our  view,  selected  by  the  poet  with  great  taste 
and  a23propriateness,  as  representatives  of  every 
thing  opposed  to  the  peace  and  haj^piness  of  the 
covenanted  people,  when  they  should  have  sub- 
mitted themselves  to  Christ.  If  wrong  in  this, 
we  see  no  alternative  but  to  exj^ect,  along  with 
a  resurrection  of  the  martyrs,  that  of  all  the 
savage  clans  who  infested  Israel  during  her  na- 
tional existence.  Try  it  on  the  15th  verse: 
"  The  Lord  shall  utterly  destroy  the  tongue  of 
the  Egyptian  sea,  and  shake  his  hand  over  the 


PROPHECY.  291 

river,  and  smite  it  in  the  seven  streams,  and 
make  men  go  over  dry  sliod."  Tliere  is  liere  a 
beautiful  allusion  to  the  Exodus  of  Israel  from 
Egypt  through  the  Red  Sea.  On  that  occasion, 
God  brought  his  people  safely  through  the 
raging  waters,  but  now — he  promises  that  he 
will  utterly  destroy  the  sea  itself.  Can  this 
mean  any  thing  more  than  that,  when  his  ancient 
people  are  to  be  gathered  into  the  Christian  fold, 
he  will  remove  evenj  obstruction;  no  obstacle 
shall  be  so  great  that  he  will  not  put  it  out  of 
the  way  by  his  almighty  power  ? 

In  Hosea  ii.  14,  God  promises  that  he  will 
bring  his  church  "  into  the  wilderness,  and  speak 
comfortably  to  her  as  in  the  day  when  she  came 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  give  her  vine- 
yards, and  the  valley  of  Achor  for  a  door  of 
hope."  No  one  surely  dreams  that  the  Jews  are 
again  to  travel  through  Arabia  Petrsea  under  the 
guidance  of  the  fire  and  cloud.  The  words  are 
plainly  allusive,  and  express  the  general  idea, — 
that  God  will  deliver  his  people  from  their 
spiritual  bondage,  and  give  them  every  proof  of 
his  cordial  and  tender  love. 


292  INTERPRETATION   OF   SCRIPTURE. 

What  shall  be  clone  with  such  a  j)assage  as 
that  in  Malachi,  which  distinctly  states  that  the 
old  Prophet  Elijah  is  to  come  from  heaven,  and 
announce  the  advent  of  the  Messiah  ?  "  Behold, 
I  send  Elijah  the  Prophet  before  the  coming  of 
the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord." 
Nothing  is  more  express ;  and  the  literalist 
would  most  certainly  add  to  the  accompaniments 
of  the  personal  advent,  a  mission  of  this  proph- 
et, (as  some  have  done,)  if  Christ  had  not 
determined  him,  in  Matthew  xi.  14,  to  be  John 
the  Ba2:)tist.  We  are  so  happy  in  this  case,  as 
to  have  not  only  a  New  Testament  interpreta- 
tion of  the  phrase  as  applied  to  John,  but  a 
New  Testament  statement  of  the  reasons  for  it, 
which  we  take  leave  to  employ  as  our  key,  in 
opening  other  dark  chambei-s  in  ancient  proph- 
ecy. Luke  i.  17 :  "He  shall  go  in  the  spiiit  and 
power  of  Elias,  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers 
to  the  children,  and  the  disobedient  to  the  wis- 
dom of  the  just." 

The  3od  chapter  of  Jeremiah  exhibits  the 
principle  for  which  we  contend,  in  so  clear  and 
decisive  a  manner,  that  it  is  quite  sufficient  of 


PROPHECY.  293 

itself  to  settle  the  question.  God  is  promising 
to  his  people  the  advent  of  their  great  spiritual 
Redeemer,  and  the  happy  consequences  of  his 
reign  are  graphically  described  in  v.  15 :  "  In 
those  days  will  I  cause  the  Branch  to  grow  up 
unto  David.  In  those  days  shall  Judah  be 
saved,  and  Jerusalem  shall  dwell  safely;  and 
this  is  the  name  wherewith  she  shall  be  called, 
The  Lord  our  righteousness."  That  the  Prophet 
is  expatiating  on  the  blessedness  of  the  new 
ceconomy  in  these  words,  is  beyond  a  doubt. 
But  what  thought  immediately  follows  ?  Surely, 
unless  I  apply  my  key,  a  very  singular  one :  v. 
18,  "Neither  [in  these  times]  shall  the  Priests 
and  Levites  want  a  man  before  me  to  offer  burnt 
offerings^  and  to  Mndle  riieat  offerings,  and  to  do 
sacrifice  continually T  Is  it  possible  to  consider 
this  as  any  thing  more  than  a  symbol,  borrowed 
from  the  Levitical  service  of  the  old  ceconomy  ? 
Will  Aaron  return  from  his  grave ;  Christian 
altars  rise,  to  steam  with  the  blood  of  rams, 
lambs,  and  he-goats  ;  and  the  purified  churches 
of  the  Kedeemer  return  to  those  weak  and  beg- 
garly elements  from  which    she  has  been  de- 


294  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

livered  ?  The  fantastic  notion,  got  up  to  evade 
the  force  of  many  passages  resembling  this,  that 
the  Jews  will  return  to  their  own  land  uncon- 
verted and  ofter  sacrifices,  is  of  no  service  here. 
The  Levitical  bondage  is  expressly  declared  to 
be  enduring,  and  its  continuance  is  represented 
as  one  of  the  most  glorious  incidents  of  King 
Messiah's  reign. 

It  is  needless  to  dwell  on  a  point  so  evident. 
The  scheme  of  these  ingenious  gentlemen  can- 
not stand.  It  introduces  a  worldly  element  in 
our  holy  religion  at  utter  variance  with  its 
genius  and  spirit.  By  its  dazzling  promises  of 
"  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  and  their  glory," 
it  strengthens  the  earthly  principle  within  us, 
and  greatly  lowers  the  tone  of  Cliristian  senti- 
ment. It  dishonors  the  glorified  person  of  our 
Redeemer,  by  degrading  him  from  the  seventh 
heaven  to  our  miserable  earth,  from  the  right 
hand  of  the  Eternal  Father,  to  a  marble  hovel 
in  Jerusalem;  and  all  this  it  does,  not  only 
without  necessity,  but  in  violation,  as  we  think, 
of  .the  plainest  rules  of  sound  interpretation. 

With  regard  to  the  Apocalypse  of  John,  we 


PROPHECY.  295 

have  no  special  reference  to  it,  as  its  liigMy 
figurative  and  allegorical  character  strikes  every 
reader  at  once.  Indeed,  it  is  surprising,  that 
persons  should  be  found  capable,  even  in  their 
dreams,  of  putting  literal  constructions  on  any 
part  of  a  book  so  decidedly  and  professedly 
enigmatical,  with  the  exception  of  the  first  three 
chapters.  Yet  this  is  done  to  a  certain  extent 
by  the  expositors  above  mentioned,  though  they 
are  far  from  carrying  out  the  principle  with  due 
consistency.  They  grant  all  we  are  disj)osed  to 
ask  concerning  the  general  structure  of  the 
poem ;  for  poem,  beyond  all  doubt,  it  is.  They 
allow  that  its  angels  with  their  trumpets,  sic- 
kles, and  vials  —  its  thrones,  four  living  crea- 
tures, and  elders  clothed  in  white — its  "  locusts," 
like  horses  prejDared  unto  the  battle — "  its  red 
dragon,  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  " — its 
woman  "  clothed  with  the  sun,"  and  that  other 
female  who  "  sits  on  many  waters  and  is  drunk 
with  the  blood  of  Saints,"  are  parts  of  a  splen- 
did gallery  of  emblematic  pictures,  designed  to 
represent  certain  great  moral  truths  connected 
with  the  state  and  progress  of  the  church  in 


296  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

different  ages.  But  wlieii  they  come  to  the 
Martyr^ s  corner^  they  suddenly  wax  literal — in- 
sisting that  the  "  souls  of  them  that  were  be- 
headed for  the  witness  of  Jesus,"  are  the  iden- 
tical men  and  women  who  died  at  former  periods, 
and  are  now  to  rise  from  their  graves  and  reign 
with  Christ  in  person,  a  thousand  calendar  years ! 
This  theory  they  maintain  in  the  face  of  two 
plain  and  undeniable  facts ;  first,  that  the  res- 
urrection of  the  martyrs  stands  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  boldest  symbolical  imagery  which 
the  book  contains ;  and  secondly,  that  "  resur- 
rection "  is  a  favorite  figure  employed  by  the 
Prophets,  to  denote  any  great  moral  renovation 
in  general,  and  is  used  in  cases  where  physical 
resuscitation  is  entirely  out  of  the  question. 
Isa^  XXX vi.  19,  Ezek.  xxxvii.  13,  Hos.  vi.  2. 
Sober  criticism  would  draw  a  conclusion  directly 
opposite  to  that  of  these  gentlemen  —  would 
infer  that  the  phrase  in  question  cannot  possi- 
bly receive  any  other  than  a  figurative  sense, 
on  the  very  rational  and  obvious  principle  that 
a  symbolical  document  must  be  symholically  in- 
terpreted. 


PROPHECY.  297 

While,  however,  we  differ  from  the  literal- 
ists,  let   us   avoid  the  other   extreme,  that  of 
turning  Prophecy  entirely  into  figure.     Doubt- 
less many  things  will  take  place,  substantially 
as  described.     Such  we  think  is  the  promised 
return  of  the  Jews  to  their  own  land.      We 
build  the  opinion  not  so  much  on  expressions 
used  in  the  Prophets,  which  might  all  he  symbol- 
ical of  their  union  to  the  spiritual  theocracy^  as  on 
the  covenant  stipulations  given  to  the  people  in 
the  land  of  Moab,  and  recorded  in  the  30th  and 
31st  chapters  of  Deuteronomy.     This  legislative 
edict,  which  '  I  have  no  right,  perhaps,  to  treat 
as  a  predictive  poem,  states  most  emphatically, 
and  with  great  variety  of  phrase,  that  if  after 
being  rooted  out  of  their  country  they  should 
rej)ent,  the  "  Lord  their  God  would  bring  them 
back  into  the  land  which  their  fathers  possessed, 
and  they  should  possess  it."     Still  more  confi- 
dently do  we  believe  in  their  conversion  to  Christ, 
their  holy  brotherhood  with  the  Gentiles,  and 
the  universal  reign  of  peace  on  the  earth.     How 
far  the  literal  fulfilment  will  be  carried,  we  are 
ignorant.     God  did  not  give  us  prophecy  that 

14 


298  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

we  miglit  know  all  things;  but  might  have 
encouragements  to  faith,  and  incentives  to  holy 
exertion.  The  expositor  who  has  not  learnt  to 
be  ignorant,  and  to  let  his  ignorance  sit  grace- 
fully on  him,  has  yet  to  learn  the  elements  of 
his  art. 


BULE   X. 

Allow  no  interpretation  that  will  cast  a  shade 
of  doubt  over  the  perfect  purity  and  truth  of  our 
Lord^s  teachings,  or  those  of  his  Apostles.  This 
may  seem  an  unnecessarily  pompous  enuncia- 
tion of  something  that  is  self-evident.  But 
facts  prove  the  contrary.  Our  German  friends 
give  us  no  little  trouble  with  certain  discoveries 
which  they  profess  to  have  made  in  the  Her- 
meneutics  of  the  New  Testament,  and  have 
invented  or  borrowed  a  theory,  by  which  they 
contrive  to  rid  themselves  of  every  truth  con- 
tained in  it,  that  does  not  please  them. 

Its  fundamental  principle  is  this.  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  were  noble  spirits,  who  soared  far 
above  the  level  of  their  age,  and  with  Plato, 


THEORY    OF    ACCOMMODATION.  299 

but  more  justly  tLan  Plato,  might  be  called 
"  heaven-born  accidents."  In  a  certain  sense, 
but  a  fine  and  transcendental  one  which  we  do 
not  stop  to  explain,  they  were  even  inspired. 
But  they  were  also  Jews ;  lived  among  Jews ; 
their  mission  was  to  Jews,  and,  like  wise  men, 
they  took  advantage  of  their  situation.  Not 
wishing  to  displease  the  people,  and  desirous  of 
gaining  admittance  to  their  minds,  they  turned 
themselves  into  thorough-going  Rabbis — indulg- 
ing in  all  those  fanciful  opinions  and  speculations 
which  were  so  admired  by  their  countrymen. 
Thus,  they  had  a  complete  science  of  angelology 
and  demonology.  Christ  adopted  it ;  and  when 
mad  or  epileptic  persons  were  brought  to  him, 
he  said  that  they  were  possessed  with  "  demons^ 
They  believed  that  when  Messiah  came,  he  would 
raise  the  just  from  their  graves.  He  humored 
them  in  this  also,  and  taught  the  "  Resurrection :" 
borrowing  with  the  same  freedom,  not  simply 
for  vivid  illustration,  but  as  a  statement  of  fact, 
their  notion  of  a  great  subterranean  vorago,  in 
whose  sulphureous  flames  the  wicked  shall  be 
eternally  tormented :    a  monstrous  figment,  it 


300  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

is  alleged,  and  most  truly,  wliicli  Jesus  could 
not  for  a  moment  iiave  believed.  The  principle 
is  unsparingly  applied  to  the  use  which  he  and 
his  disciples  make  of  the  Old  Testament.  In- 
deed it  is  from  this  source  its  supporters  draw 
their  arguments  almost  exclusively.  The  mys- 
tical and  allegorical  mode  of  expounding — the 
wish  to  find  recondite  meanings  in  the  simplest 
passages,  and  even  in  the  arrangement  of  words 
and  letters,  had  become,  it  is  alleged,  a  perfect 
mania,  to  which  grammar,  logic,  and  common 
sense  were  sacrificed  without  remorse.  To  this 
mode  of  teaching  the  wise  Redeemer  conformed. 
We  are  not  to  look  therefore  for  any  solidity  in 
the  arguments  he  employs  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. It  is  enough  that  his  ultimate  conclu- 
sions are  found  correct,  after  a  careful  siftirig — 
the  premises  being  nothing  more  than  "  argu- 
menta  ad  hominem,"  which  suited  the  people  of 
that  time  and  place,  but  have  no  force  in  the 
present  day,  at  least  for  gentlemen  who  have 
passed  through  the  curriculum  scientiarum,  in 
the  university  of  Leipsic  or  Gottingen, 

This  is  the  famous  doctrine  of  "Accommoda- 


THEORY    OF    ACCOMMODATION.  301 

tion," — "  Condescension," — "Wise  QEconomy," 
which  prevails  on  the  European  continent,  and 
with  which  the  neologist  performs  such  marvels 
in  exegesis.  Its  meaning  cannot  be  mistaken. 
The  sacred  writers  of  the  New  Testament  cared 
very  little  for  the  oceans  of  absurdity  they 
poured  out,  if  they  only  struck  the  fancy  of 
those  Avhom  they  wished  to  make  Christians. 
They  were  the  Father  Jesuits  of  those  days, 
who  regarded  not  the  means  if  the  end  was 
good,  and  spared  no  arts  of  chicanery  that 
would  promote  their  object.  It  is  really  sur- 
prising that  men,  calling  themselves  Christian 
divines,  and  in  every  other  respect  estimable, 
should,  under  any  temptation,  resort  to  a  scheme 
so  fatal  to  all  trust  in  divine  revelation ;  and 
which  charges  our  blessed  Redeemer  with  a 
policy  that  would  disgrace  the  lowest  political 
demagogue.  Had  he  pursued  it,  he  would  not 
have  been  a  teacher  for  Hottentots,  and,  in  a 
short  time,  would  have  been  cast  off  by  his 
warmest  admirers,  in  consequence  of  finding 
that  they  could  not  depend  on  anything  he  said. 
Lie  Niimher  One  they  could  have  endured,  per- 


302  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

liaps,  from  grateful  feelings  to  a  teacher  who 
betrayed  such  anxieties  to  please  them.  But 
who  could  bear  a  succession  of  lies,  or  attend  a 
course  of  instructions  based  on  lying  ?  Strange 
as  the  thing  may  seem,  these  gentlemen  could 
do  it ;  for,  with  a  recklessness  that  can  be  only 
explained  by  the  tendency  of  certain  studies  ex- 
clusively pursued,  to  demoralize  the  intellect 
and  blunt  its  perception  of  the  difference  be- 
tween right  and  wrong,  they  justify  the  practice, 
contending  that  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  fair 
application  of  the  "  argumentum  ad  hominem." 
There  is  no  truth  in  their  assertion.  That  the 
"  argumentum  ad  hominem,"  in  other  words,  the 
assumption  of  the  false  opinion  of  one  whom  we 
seek  to  convince  is  allowable  in  certain  cases,  may 
be  admitted ;  though  of  all  modes  of  reasoning 
it  is  the  last  which  a  lofty  mind  would  resort  to, 
unless  the  object  proposed  was  action^  rather 
than  conviction.  But  there  is  a  limitation 
which  no  man  of  the  least  self-respect  will 
neglect.  The  person  to  be  convinced  must 
understand  his  teacher — that  he  is  not  teaching^ 
but  removing  obstructions,  and  using  the  errors 


THEORY    OP    ACCOMMODATION.  303 

and  false  opinions  wMcli  darken  Lis  mind,  for 
no  other  purpose  but  to  prepare  Mm  for  the 
truth.     There  is  not,  indeed,  always  a  necessity 
of  explicit  statement,  for  the  true  intent  may 
be  gathered  from  attending  circumstances — or 
the  avowal  of  it  may  be  deferred  to  another 
occasion.     But  sooner  or  later  it  must  appear, 
and  certainly  will  appear,  if  the  teacher  has  any 
higher  object  in  view  than  to  bewilder  and  mis- 
lead some  poor  simpleton  whom  he  has  selected 
to  be  the  victim  of  his  supeiior  ingenuity.  Above 
all,  we  demand  this  from  a  religious  instructor 
who  declares  that  he  comes  from  God  to  enlighten 
the  moral  darkness  of  the  soul.     To  imagine 
the  contrary — to  suj)pose  that  the  great  Being 
would  allow  his  ambassador  to  furnish  the  child 
of  immortality  with   a  chart  full  of  errors  and 
fiilse  directions,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  pre- 
text, is  to  suppose  that  he   has   usurped   the 
throne  of  the  Devil,  and  robbed  him  of  his 
proper  paternity :  Satan  can  no  more  claim  to 
be  the  "father  of  lies!"     This  may  be  called 
declamation,  rather  than  argument ;   but  it   is 
the  only  way  of  treating  the  subject.    Morality 


304  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

is  a  thing  not  to  be  established  by  reasoning, 
nor  is  false  morality  to  be  refuted  by  it.  Both 
are  the  objects  of  pure  intuitive  perception  ; 
and  when  a  fundamental  error  is  committed,  all 
that  remains  is  to  place  it  vividly  and  distinctly 
before  the  mind. 

We  have  said  that  the  principal  supj)ort 
which  they  find  for  their  theory,  is  the  way  in 
which  Christ  and  his  apostles  quote  the  Old 
Testament.  The  remarks  that  follow  shall 
therefore  be  mainly  directed  to  this  j)oint. 

The  quotations  in  the  Gospel  from  the  Old 
Testament,  are  of  two  kinds :  first,  The  Rhetori- 
cal., as  we  choose  to  call  them,  the  design  of 
which  is  to  illustrate  ;  secondly,  the  Logical, 
which  aims  to  instruct  and  convince.  These 
must  be  carefully  separated,  though  the  friends 
of  accommodation  evince  great  care  in  endeavor- 
ing to  confound  them. 

The  Rhetorical  use  of  the  Old  Testament  con- 
sists in  the  employment  by  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles of  its  ideas  and  expressions,  to  impart 
vivacity  and  force  to  their  own  conceptions. 
From  very  early  times,  the  Jews  glowed  with  a 


THEORY    OF    ACCOMMODATION.  305 

love  and  veneration  for  their  sacred  books,  of 
whicli  we  can  scarcely  form  an  idea.  They  were 
their  pride,  their  delight,  their  constant  study — 
combining  in  one  all  their  civil  polity,  history, 
literature,  and  religious  faith.  They  sang  them, 
they  prayed  in  them,  they  carried  them  to  their 
fasts  and  their  feasts,  to  their  marriages  and  fu- 
neral solemnities,  to  their  courts  of  law,  to  their 
temple,  and  their  synagogues.  Let  the  reader  im- 
agine, if  he  pleases,  all  our  books  of  poetry  and 
prose,  of  geography,  law,  science,  and  theology, 
fused  and  amalgamated  into  a  single  volume,  he 
will  form  an  exceedingly  faint  conception  of  that 
which  his  Scriptures  were  to  a  son  of  Abraham, 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  Is  it  surprising, 
then,  tliat  they  should  become  an  inexhaustible 
treasury  of  thoughts,  phrases,  sentiments,  on 
which  they  drew  when  under  the  influence  of  deep 
emotion  ?  This  they  would  do  without  troubling 
themselves  with  nice  questions  about  the  exact 
meaning  of  what  they  quoted.  Man  is  something 
more  than  a  reasoning  machine, — a  mere  grinder 
of  syllogisms.  He  is  not  always  ^vith  square  in 
hand,  taking  the  dimensions  of  a  pyramid,  nor 
u* 


306  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

demonstrating  the  relation  between  cosines  and 
tangents,  lie  feels  joy  and  sorrow,  fear  and 
love, — soars  in  hope,  or  creej^s  in  despondency. 
In  such  cases,  how  pleasant  to  the  man  of  taste 
and  reading,  that  he  can  pour  out  his  heart  in  the 
words  of  some  favorite  author  !  The  products 
of  his  own  mind  are  entirely  too  mean  to  be  the 
vehicle  of  expression  for  the  strong  emotions 
pent  up  wdthin ;  and  he  borrows  the  wings  of 
his  bard,  whose  glorious  creations  have  become 
so  entwined  with  every  fibre  of  his  soul,  that 
he  scarcely  recognizes  them  as  another's,  but 
treats  them  as  part  of  his  own  living  self 

Thus  was  it  with  the  Jew,  and  thus  with  the 
Jewish  Saviour  and  his  Jewish  apostles.  Is  it 
in  the  least  wonderful  then,  that  a  rich  poetical 
coloring  should  be  spread  over  all  their  concep- 
tions; that  whenever  they  opened  their  mouth, 
there  would  droj:)  lilies  and  roses  culled  fi-om 
the  fair  garden  where  they  spent  their  happiest 
hours,  communing  Avith  God  and  their  own  pure 
and  holy  thoughts  ?  In  such  utterances  there 
was  nothino;  studied  or  souo-ht  after.  The  idea 
before  their  minds  called  up  by  natural  associ- 


THEORY    OF   ACCOMMODATION.  307 

ation  some  passage  from  the  Old  Testament, — 
whicli  required  no  bidding  to  make  its  appear- 
ance, and  was  thrown  out  in  illustration  of  the 
principal  thought  with  graceful  artlessness. 
Nor  was  it  necessary  that  the  correspondence 
between  them  should  be  real  and  intimate. 
Nothing  more  was  required  than  such  a  de- 
gree of  resemblance,  (perhaps  merely  verbal,) 
as  would  please  the  fancy  and  enliven  the  senti- 
ment to  be  expressed. 

In  this  way  the  fact  is  explained,  that  there 
are  in  the  New  Testament  no  less  than  seven 
hundred  references  to  its  venerable  sister,  most  of 
which  belong  to  the  class  under  our  notice.  We 
gave  some  examples  in  discussing  our  seventh 
rule,  and  they  must  not  be  multiplied.  Let  the 
reader  turn  back  to  them  for  a  moment,  and 
he  will  need  no  additional  illustrations.  The 
first  will  fully  answer  his  purpose :  "  A  voice  in 
Rama,  lamentation  and  great  mourning,  Rachel 
weeping  for  her  children,  and  refusing  to  be 
comforted,"  Matt.  ii.  18.  Most  certainly  the 
prophet  Jeremiah,  from  whom  this  is  cited,  did 
not  predict  the  massacre  in   Bethlehem ;    but 


308  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

describes  a  scene  that  occurred  in  his  own  time, 
six  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  the  Sav- 
iour. Yet  there  was  a  distant  resemblance, 
which  to  the  mind  of  Matthew,  steeped  as  it 
was  in  Bible  memories,  might  occur  very  natu- 
rally. Indeed,  there  is  in  the  greater  number  of 
these  quotations,  (viewed  from  the  rhetorical 
standpoint,  as  our  German  friends  would  say,) 
a  tasteful  appropriateness  which  must  strike 
every  mind. 

But  secondly,  our  writers  did  not  always  em- 
ploy their  Jewish  recollections  in  this  way.  As 
ambassadors  of  heaven,  they  had  a  serious  work 
to  perform,  which  would  not  allow  them  to  be 
always  walking  among  flowers,  or  gathering 
shells  on  the  sea-shore.  As  teachers  of  divine 
truth,  expounders  of  the  way  of  salvation,  they 
were  to  address  frequently  the  pure  intellect  of 
men,  convincing  them  by  "  sound  speech  which 
could  not  be  condemned,"  that  the  message  they 
brought  was  not  a  cunningly  devised  fable. 
Here,  too,  they  recur  to  the  good  old  book.  But 
the  design  is  different.  It  is  no  more  regarded 
as  a  cabinet  of  gems  and  golden  ornaments,  but 


THEORY    OP    ACCOMMODATION.  309 

a  treasure-house  of  arguments  by  wliicli  their 
couutrymen  may  be  brought  to  the  feet  of  the 
Saviour — the  garden  becomes  an  armory,  and 
every  word  of  citation  belongs  to  the  "  company 
of  valiant  men  standing  round  the  bed  of  Solo- 
mon, all  having  swords,  and  expei't  in  war ! "  In 
these  cases,  we  repel  the  charges  of  our  oppo- 
nents with  earnestness,  affirming  that  in  every 
instance  the  Old  Testament  is  quoted,  according 
to  its  true  intent  and  meanins;. 

If  it  be  asked  how  we  may  determine  the 
class  to  which  a  passage  belongs,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  say,  that  none  of  the  formulas  usually 
employed  for  marking  a  quotation  will  be  of 
much  assistance.  The  expressions  "that  it 
might  be  fulfilled,"  "  as  the  Scripture  saith," 
<fec.,  merely  point  out  a  general  correspondence 
without  explaining  its  nature,  and  may  undoubt- 
edly be  prefixed  to  either  class,  though  some 
interpreters  have  attempted  to  make  distinctions. 
There  is,  however,  no  practical  difficulty  in  set- 
tling questions  of  this  kind.  After  reading  the 
passage,  let  the  student  ask  himself,  Is  the 
sacred  writer  reasoning  here  ?     Is  the  text  part 


310  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

of  a  chain  of  argument  which  he  is  evidently 
carrying  on  either  to  instruct  a  pupil  or  convict 
a  gainsayer?  Is  he  occupying  the  domain  of 
intellect, — or  of  fancy  and  feeling  ?  Let  him  do 
this,  and  we  jDromise  that  he  shall  not  find 
more  than  six  passages  in  the  New  Testament 
that  will  give  him  serious  trouble.  Of  the 
facility  with  which  the  principle  can  be  applied, 
take  one  or  two  examples. 

In  Acts  ii.  17,  the  Apostle  Peter,  defending 
himself  and  associates  from  the  charo-e  of  drunk- 
enness,  tells  the  Jews  that  the  excitement  they 
witnessed  (on  the  day  of  Pentecost)  was  really 
the  work  of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  and  distinctly 
predicted  by  the  prophet  Joel,  "  But  this  is  that 
spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel ;  and  it  shall  come 
to  pass  in  those  days,  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit," 
&,c.  There  can  be  no  doubt  respecting  the  class 
to  which  this  belongs.  Peter  is  arguing  a 
solemn  and  weighty  point  with  professed  un- 
believers. If  his  appeal  to  Joel  was  a  ftilse  one, 
and  that  it  would  be,  if  Joel  did  not  refer  to 
the  very  transaction  that  was  going  on,  Peter 
was  guilty  of  a  fraud,  or  a  folly,  which  deprived 


THEORY    OF    ACCOMMODATION.  311 

him  of  all  riglit  to  be  respected  as  a  teacher. 
That  he  was  right,  and  that  the  prediction  does 
refer  to  Gospel  times,  is  nniversally  admitted  by 
fair  and  honest  critics.  In  the  same  chapter 
another  striking  instance  occurs.  Speaking  of 
the  resurrection  of  Christ,  which  his  unbeliev- 
ing audience  of  course  denied,  he  quotes  a  para- 
graph from  Psalm  xvi.  which  asserts  concerning 
some  one,  that  "  God  would  not  leave  his  soul  in 
hades,  or  suffer  his  holy  one  to  see  corruption." 
This  personage,  the  apostle,  in  an  elaborate 
argument,  shows  could  not  be  David,  and  con- 
cludes in  the  31st  verse,  "David  seeing  this  be- 
fore, spake  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  that 
his  soul  was  not  left,"  &c.  Here  again  we 
say,  that  if  the  passage  in  the  Old  Testament 
does  not  mean  precisely  what  the  apostle  says 
it  meant,  his  character  is  gone  forever :  we  ques- 
tion whether  miracle  could  have  saved  it.  As 
interpreters,  therefore,  we  are  bound  to  show 
that  the  16th  Psalm  is  prophetic  of  Messiah, 
which  can  be  triumphantly  done. 

One   other    example.     When   we   open    the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  we  find  it  commences 


312  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

with  an  earnest  argument  for  the  divinity  of 
Christ.  It  begins  at  the  5  th  verse,  and  consists 
of  no  less  than  seven  allegations  from  the  Old 
Testament.  Now  it  cannot  be  possible  that 
these  are  merely  rhetorical.  We  would  not,  in- 
deed, (for  a  reason  to  be  mentioned,)  stiffly  in- 
sist on  excluding  all  from  this  catagory.  But 
no  further  compromise  is  admissible.  If,  on  so 
grave  and  momentous  a  theme,  the  author  put 
olf  his  readers  with  a  motley  collection  of  Rab- 
binical conceits,  the  credit  of  his  whole  epistle 
would  have  been  utterly  ruined  in  the  esteem 
of  every  honest  man.  That  he  has  not  done 
so,  but  on  the  contrary,  that  he  has  treated  his 
authorities  Avith  logical  fairness  and  accuracy, 
could  be  evinced  without  much  trouble.  Never- 
theless it  is  quite  true  that  some  of  his  quota- 
tions give  the  interpreter  matter  to  reflect  on. 
The  5th  verse  of  the  1st  chapter  is  an  example, 
in  which  a  promise  of  God  to  David  that  he 
would  be  a  "  father  to  Solomon,  and  that  Solo- 
mon should  be  his  son,"  is  applied  to  Christ, 
argumentatively  it  would  seem,  as  if  he  were 
the  proper  object.     The  quotation  in  the  10th 


THEORY    OF    ACCOMMODATION.  313 

verse  is  also  what  we  would  scarcely  expect. 
But  decidedly  the  hardest  knot  to  untie  is  found 
iu  the  13th  verse  of  the  2d  chapter,  where  the 
author  takes  a  passage  from  Isaiah  undoubtedly 
referring  to  himself  and  his  two  children  pre- 
viously mentioned,  and  makes  its  subject  to  be 
the  Saviour  and  his  disciples.  Let  the  student 
sit  down  to  work  at  these  three  instances,  and 
when  he  can  satisfactorily  explain  them  without 
calling  in  the  theory  Ave  are  opposing  on  the  one 
hand,  or  that  of  the  double  sense  on  the  other,  he 
may  feel  prepared  for  all  other  like  encounters. 
To  us  the  following  explanation  is  entirely 
satisfactory :  The  Jewish  writers  were  never  re- 
markable for  dialectic  precision,  or  great  care  to 
separate  between  argument  properly  so  called, 
and  illustration.  An  author,  therefore,  like  Paul, 
or  whoever  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
having  his  taste  formed  on  national  models, 
would  not  in  all  cases  rigidly  adhere  to  the  "  logi- 
cal "  mode  of  quotation,  even  when  arguing,  but 
occasionally  relieve  the  severity  of  his  polemics 
by  sliding  into  the  "  rhetorical,"  or  that  mode  of 
using  the  Old  Testament  which  gratifies  pious 


314  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

fancy  without  adding  anything  to  the  main  evi- 
dence on  the  point  debated.  How  many  quota- 
tions do  we  meet  with  in  the  works  of  our  closest 
reasoners  which  would  be  perfect  riddles  to  us,  if 
they  did  not  take  care  to  prelude  them  in  such  a 
way  as  leaves  nothing  to  the  imagination  ?  The 
great  difference  between  ancient  and  modern 
times,  as  to  the  custom  of  quotation,  lies  princi- 
pally here,  that  in  a  train  of  reasoning  the  mod- 
ern, when  he  steps  aside  from  the  highway,  gives 
a  clear  intimation  ;  the  other  tells  us  to  find  it 
out  by  our  own  sagacity  and  knowledge  of  the 
subject.  Accordingly,  when  we  read  the  most 
difficult  passage  in  the  New  Testament  that  con- 
tains a  citation  from  the  Old,  with  proper  atten- 
tion, we  are  always  rewarded  with  the  discovery 
that  there  were  good  reasons  for  it,  though,  as 
directly  bearing  on  the  argument,  they  may  have 
no  proving  force  whatever.  The  ^reasons,  how- 
ever, as  I  have  stated,  must  be  sought  for. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  artless  method  of  in- 
troducins:  the  reference  so  characteristic  of  a 
particular  age  and  people,  is  just  taking  advan- 
tag^e  of  our  own  heedlessness  and  io-norance  to 


THEORY    OF    ACCOMMODATION.  315 

launcli  a  poisoned  arrow  at  revelation.  The 
sum  of  what  has  been  said  is  simply  this,  that 
the  interpreter  must  not  so  painfully  carry  out 
the  distinction  between  rhetorical  and  logical 
quotations,  as  to  experience  a  shock  when  he 
finds  an  occasional  commino-lino:  of  both.  Rules 
of  language,  if  good  for  anything,  are  not  made 
out  of  cast-iron. 

Our  remarks  have  been  directed  exclusively 
to  the  use  made  by  our  Lord  and  his  Apostles 
of  the  Old  Testament  for  the  reasons  assigned, 
viz.  :  that  our  opponents  draw  their  principal 
arguments  from  this  source.  With  regard  to 
the  sanction  of  other  Jewish  errors,  but  one 
example  can  be  alleged  with  any  plausibility. 
Before  citing  that  case,  however,  we  shall  make 
a  trifling  concession.  It  is  perfectly  true  that 
to  remove  the  prejudices  of  the  people,  and  gain 
entrance  for  truths  too  spiritual  to  be  appreci- 
ated in  their  abstract  form,  or  make  a  strong 
impression  on  rude  minds,  the  Saviour  indulged 
his  natural  love  of  beautiful  illustration,  by 
alluding  to  some  common  belief,  or  perhaps  only 
half  l^elief,  brought  down  by  tradition,  which 


31 G  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

lie  does  not  ratify^  but  uses  as  a  dress  to  his 
sentiment,  nincli  in  tlie  rlietorical  way  of  em- 
ploying passages  of  scripture  just  noticed, — as- 
suming that  intelligent  readers  would  understand 
the  thing,  and  leaving  stupid  ones  to  their  stu- 
pidity. All  good  writers  possessing  imagination 
and  taste,  thus  feather  their  arrows,  when  oppor- 
tunity invites,  with  superstitions  and  fabulous 
opinions  that  have  a  hold  on  the  common  mind. 
A  specimen  we  have  of  it  in  Matt.  xii.  4.3,  which 
has  been  quoted  most  unfairly,  to  exhibit  Jesus  as 
teaching  the  absurd  Jewish  notion  that  demons, 
leaving  the  bodies  of  those  whom  they  had  tor- 
mented, would  wander  disconsolately  in  dry 
places,  and  afterwards  return  in  troops  to  their 
old  habitation.  The  thought  that  he  desires  to 
express  is,  that  there  are  temporary  reforma- 
tions which  terminate  in  fearfully  aggravated 
depravity.  But  instead  of  saying  it  like  a 
schoolmaster,  he  makes  the  sentiment  impres- 
sive by  clothing  it  in  an  apologue ;  which 
most  of  them  had  probably  listened  to  in  early 
youth  with  awe  and  wrapt  attention,  and  which 
was  never  forgotten. 


THEORY    OF   ACCOMMODATION.  317 

These  remarks  do  not  apply  to  the  general 
idea  of  demoniac  possession,  but  to  a  certain 
superstition  grafted  on  it.  The  doctrine  itself 
appears  to  have  been  held  as  well  as  taught  by 
the  great  teacher,  and  is  the  "  example  "  above 
alluded  to.  It  certainly  appears  singular,  that 
evil  spirits  should  have  been  allowed  to  exercise 
so  terrible  a  power  over  the  bodies  of  men  in 
one  particular  age  of  the  world,  exclusive  of  all 
succeeding  times :  and  the  symptoms  resemble  so 
closely  those  of  insane  and  epileptic  persons, 
that  if  any  safe  expedient  were  found  for  main- 
taining that  Christ  did  not  intend  to  teach  the 
doctrine,  we  should  be  tempted  to  adopt  it. 
But  this  seems  impossible.  The  way  in  which 
he  always  ti'eats  the  subject — his  conversations 
with  the  demons — the  various  circumstances  ac- 
companying the  cure,  and  the  impression  uni- 
formly made  u|)on  the  spectators,  absolutely 
preclude  the  idea  that  he  employed  the  Jewish 
notion  rhetorically,  or  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
leave  it  doubtful  whether  he  himself  believed  it. 
We  therefore  accept  the  doctrine  as  part  of  his 
authoritative  teachings — earnestly  advising  our 


318  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

young  friends  not  to  indulge  a  habit  of  thinking 
in  relation  to  it,  that  may  lead  them  to  the 
verge  of  a  precipice  from  which  it  will  not  be 
easy  to  retrace  their  steps. 

If,  unfortunately,  a  man  cannot  bring  himself 
to  unite  with  us  in  the  acceptance,  we  would 
remind  him  that  he  does  far  less  dishonor  to  the 
character  of  Jesus  by  holding  that  he  taught  an 
error,  believing  it  to  be  truth,  than  by  asserting 
that  he  taught  it — knowing  its  falsehood.  Per- 
haps such  a  view  does  not  necessarily  invalidate 
his  authority  as  a  religious  teacher.  Jesus,  it 
might  be  said,  was  a  7nan  ;  and  the  mysterious 
union  with  a  higher  nature  did  not  establish 
such  an  actual  communication  between  the 
Divine  and  Human,  that  he  in  the  latter  capacity 
exercised  the  prerogative  of  omniscience.  The 
true  pathology  of  disease  might  have  been  hid- 
den from  him  as  the  other  secrets  of  science — 
those  of  chemistry,  for  instance  ;  and  thus,  as 
he  changed  water  into  wine  without  being  ac- 
quainted with  the  elementary  molecules  which 
composed  the  two  fluids,  he  might  have  healed 
diseases  with  the  same  imperfect  knowledge  of 
their  causes  which  characterized  his  age. 


THEORY   OF   ACCOMMODATION.  319 

We  liave  no  liking  to  this  hypothesis.  The 
doctrine  of  demoniac  agency  has  too  many  points 
of  contact  with  fundamental  questions  in  moral- 
ity and  religion,  to  be  considered  a  mere  scien- 
tific error ;  and  the  supposition  that  our  blessed 
Redeemer  should  be  the  victim  of  delusion  on 
a  point  so  momentous,  is  abhorrent  to  all  our 
Christian  instincts.  Our  only  object  in  suggest- 
ing it,  is  to  affirm  that  it  approaches  infinitely 
nearer  Christian  faith  than  the  doctrine  of  "  ac- 
commodation." The  man  of  piety,  however, 
stands  in  no  need  of  it.  At  best,  the  scheme 
is  a  perilous  one,  however  it  may  claim  the 
praise  of  harmlessness  when  compared  with  a 
worse.  Let  us,  on  a  subject  so  entirely  belong- 
ing to  the  invisible  world,  and  beyond  the  range 
of  our  present  faculties,  cast  theory  to  the  winds 
— cherishing  the  pleasant  and  surely  not  irra- 
tional belief,  that  at  a  certain  period  in  the 
world's  history,  the  holy  Providence  of  God 
suffered  a  temporary  unloosing  of  the  powers 
of  evil,  to  grace  the  advent  of  their  mighty  and 
divine  Conqueror ! 

On  the  whole,  no  student  of  his  Bible  has 


320  INTERPRETATION   OF    SCRIPTURE. 

reason  to  fear  any  evil  consequences  from  the 
most  severe  and  searching  examination  of  the 
topic  which  we  have  been  considering.  The 
assertions  of  our  opponents  are  stronger  than 
their  arguments  —  and  their  boldness  exceeds 
their  discretion.  Deep  reverence  for  God  —  a 
cultivated  moral  sense — and  above  all,  a  habit- 
ual contemplation  of  the  perfect  model  of  purity, 
truth,  and  excellence  furnished  us  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  great  Author  of  our  religion,  with 
a  respectable  degree  of  learning,  will  be  an 
effectual  safeguard,  unless  counteracted  by  ex- 
ternal influences,  and  that  greatest  of  all  calam- 
ities, a  naturally  cold  and  sceptical  tempera- 
ment. 


RULE    XI. 

We  must  endeavor  to  obtain  reaso7idble  certainttj 
that  the  jyrinted  text  gives  the  true  reading  of  our 
hook  ;  and  for  this  purpose  must  study  and  apply 
the  art  of  Criticis^n.  That  so  ancient  a  volume 
as  the  Bible  should  have  come  down  to  us  per- 
fectly free  from  error,  is  a  supposition  too  absurd 


ART    OF   CRITICISM.  321 

to  be  reasoned  with.  The  fact  is,  no  two  man- 
uscripts of  the  eight  hundred  that  have  been 
examined,  entirely  agree ;  and  as  each  has  a 
claim  to  be  heard,  we  must  often  be  at  a  loss 
in  passing  judgment  on  their  discrepancies.  A 
knowledge,  therefore,  of  the  principles  accord- 
ing to  which  such  questions  should  be  decided, 
with  ability  to  use  it,  is  indispensable.  We 
have  no  right  to  exercise  a  blind  and  lazy  faith 
in  others,  however  eminent,  but  in  every  case 
must  be  qualified,  in  some  degree,  to  judge  for 
ourselves.  The  science  which  teaches  these 
things  is  called  Criticism;  and  thus  we  say, 
that  every  interpreter  must  be,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, a  critic.  He  must  acquaint  himself  with 
the  history  of  the  text  in  different  ages,  with  the 
number  and  probable  age  of  the  different  manu- 
scripts, their  notation  and  comparative  value 
with  the  various  theories  of  the  learned  concern- 
ing their  classification,  with  ancient  versions,  and 
v^ith  the  "canons,"  as  they  are  called,  by  which 
the  intrinsic  excellence  of  readings  is  judged  in 
the  absence  or  defect  of  external  evidence. 


322  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

Unfortunately  for  tliis  study,  a  bad  odor  has 
been  given  to  it  by  a  school  of  thinkers  in  Ger- 
many, who  have  carried  their  critical  specula- 
tions beyond  all  bounds.  Catching  the  spirit 
of  inquiry  v\rhich,  sixty  years  ago,  began  to 
separate  truth  from  error  in  classical  history 
and  literature,  they  with  reckless  ardor  directed 
it  to  the  Christian  revelation.  Establishing 
themselves  as  the  Wolfs  and  Mebuhrs  of  this 
new  region,  they  soon  began  to  doubt  the  in- 
tegrity of  large  portions  of  scripture,  on  the 
ground  of  what  they  called  the  "  Higher  Criti- 
cism;"— this  Higher  Criticism  being  a  sort  of 
inward  light,  enabling  it  possessor  to  distinguish 
between  the  genuine  and  the  spurious,  by  sim- 
ple perception — in  direct  opposition  to  manu- 
scripts, versions,  uniform  tradition,  and  every 
other   accredited    source   of    evidence.*       One 

*  To  avoid  the  imputation  of  talking  more  flippantly  than 
wisely,  we  must  observe  that  what  is  called  the  "  higher  criti- 
cism," in  itself  considered,  is  a  perfectly  legitimate  and  highly 
useful  operation.  Its  object  is,  to  determine  whether  a  sentence 
or  book  is  the  alleged  author's,  by  its  contents,  without  any  aid 
from  without.  In  fact,  it  is  much  the  same  with  an  appeal  to 
internal  evidence.  If  I  find  a  gem  which  seems  to  be  gold,  but 
no  one  can  tell  where  it  came  from,  I  apply  to  a  skilful  jeweller, 


ART    OF    CRITICISM.  '  323 

doubt  prepared  the  way  for  another ;  doubt 
ripened  into  denial ;   and  so  the  work  of  muti- 

who  determines  by  its  weight,  shade  of  color,  and  metallic  ring, 
whether  it  is  or  is  not  what  I  take  it  to  be.  When  the  uncle  of 
Sancho  Panza,  a  great  connoisseur  in  liquors,  was  consulted  by 
the  purchaser  of  a  hogshead  of  high-priced  wine  on  its  genuine- 
ness, he  after  tasting  it  decided  unfavorably,  saying  that  it  had  a 
perceptible  impregnation  of  both  leather  and  iron;  and  sure 
enougli,  a  small  leather  thong  with  a  key  attached  was  found  at 
the  bottom  !  Both  these  judgments  are  specimens  of  the  "  higher 
criticism."  And  so  of  documents.  If  an  old  manuscript  turned 
up  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  General  Washington, 
but  no  perfectly  satisfactory  testimony  could  be  obtained  on 
the  point,  we  take  the  opinion  of  one  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  General's  hand-writing,  aU  his  pubUshed  productions,  his 
history,  habits,  and  way  of  expressing  himself  on  different  sub- 
jects, and  if  he  points  out  in  the  writing  any  marked  inconsisten- 
cies with  these,  we  reject  it,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  at  once. 
By  the  same  procedure.  Wolf  demonstrated  as  he  thought  the 
want  of  authenticity  in  the  writings  of  Homer,  and  Niebuhr  the 
untruthfulness  of  ancient  Roman  history.  But  it  is  evident  that 
such  a  critic  must  be  an  extraordinary  man — perfectly  aufait  with 
every  part  of  his  subject — as  modest  as  he  is  learned  and  saga- 
cious, never  allowing  himself  to  indulge  in  mere  suspicions  or  be 
dazzled  by  seeming  reasons — fuU  of  conscientiousness  and  rever- 
ence for  his  subject,  and  not  anxious  to  surprise  the  public  with 
new  discoveries.  Above  all,  elevated  qualifications  are  required 
when  the  document  is  a  sacred  one,  and  universally  recognized  as 
part  of  the  rule  of  faith.  The  man  who  sits  down  ^^  mover e 
quieta"  on  such  a  subject,  may  have  a  right  to  be  heard — for  truth 
always  welcomes  investigation ;  but  previous  to  a  hearing,  we 
would  demand  that  the  "  higher  criticism  "  be  stringently  ap- 
plied to  himself. 

Now,  what  we  complain  of  is,  that  most  of  those  who  prac- 


324  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

lation  has  been  going  on,  until  our  Bible  has 
become  a  thing  of  shi-ecls  and  patches,  the  like 

tice  the  art  are  deficient  in  the  quaUties  mentioned.  They  seem 
to  consider  the  whole  business  as  a  trial  of  dexterity,  like  the 
Western  game  of  shooting  Indians :  he  is  "  hest "  man  who  takes 
down  the  most,  and  so  he  is  the  best  critic  who  can  slaughter  the 
greatest  number  of  books  and  chapters.  They  are  full  of  asser- 
tions— weak  reasons — and  no  reasons  at  all.  Their  premises  half 
the  time  would  not  sustain  a  single  rafter  of  the  great  building 
which  they  place  upon  it,  and  the  deficiency  is  made  up  by  sound- 
ing phrases  which  seem  to  mean  something,  but  are  really  of  no 
account  whatever.  They  talk  much  of  "  Johannean,  Pauline,  and 
Petrine  subjectivities,"  and  are  the  whole  time  displaying  their 
own.  Even  the  admirable  Gesenius  is  not  exempt  from  these 
faults,  as  every  one  must  see  who  examines  carefully  many  of 
his  mutilations  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah.  Such  at  least  are  the 
author's  opinions,  founded  on  a  considerable  acquaintance  with 
the  class  of  writings  under  notice,  to  the  study  of  which  he 
was  driven  by  grave  anxieties  and  misgivings,  painful  enough  at 
the  time,  and  leaving,  it  may  be,  a  few  scars  behind  them ; 
but  as  a  seriously  disturbing  influence  no  longer  felt.  This  is 
not  egotistically  said,  but  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  those 
of  our  young  friends,  who  have  heard  with  some  alarm  of  this 
"  lion  in  the  way,"  not  to  fear  taking  him  by  the  beard.  He  will 
probably  be  found  more  harmless  than  his  roar  in  the  distance 
would  seem  to  portend.  With  regard  to  those  whose  minds 
are  perfectly  undisturbed,  and  who  are  looking  forward  to  a  life 
of  practical  usefulness  with  an  unclouded  confidence  that  all  is 
right  in  the  foundations,  we  advise  them  to  let  the  "  higher  criti- 
cism" alone.  As  Solomon  says  of  another  path,  "  Avoid  it,  pass 
not  by  it,  turn  from  it  and  pass  away." 

There  are  a  few,  however,  (we  have  already  referred  to  them,) 
whose  active  and  inquisitive  minds  will  not  be  deterred  from  en- 
gaging in  the  fundamental  questions  raised  by  this  science,  though 


ART    OP   CRITICISM.  325 

of  which  lias  been  never  seen  in  the  shape  of  a 
written  document. 

it  cost  them,  if  not  an  "  eclipse  of  faith,"  an  obscuration,  from 
which  they  may  never  completely  emerge  into  the  old  sunshine. 
Out  of  this  class  rise  the  most  powerful  champions  of  the  truth 
as  well  as  its  ablest  opposers,  and  therefore  to  young  men  of  this 
stamp,  we  say  again,  "  in  God's  name,  take  courage  and  go  for- 
ward." The  author  may  be  mistaken,  but  he  has  a  strong  belief 
that  the  grand  theological  question  to  be  settled  in  the  coming 
age,  will  be  one  which,  in  the  dearth  of  testimony,  mainly  appeals 
to  the  "  higher  criticism,"  viz.,  whether  the  genuineness  of  the 
four  gospels  can  be  established  as  a  historical  fact  beyond  cavil — 
notwithstanding  the  fearful  chasm  of  a  century  between  the 
alleged  time  of  their  being  written,  and  clear  attestations  to  them 
by  the  ancient  fathers.  Of  the  issue,  we  have  no  serious  fears ; 
but  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the  men  for  carrying  victoriously 
the  Christian  standard  through  hosts  of  learned  and  sharp-witted 
adversaries,  are  at  present  not  very  numerous,  and  their  multi- 
plication is  one  of  the  church's  greatest  necessities.  We  see  the 
use  which  Strauss  and  his  compeers  make  of  the  fact  above 
stated.  Undoubtedly  they  have  been  met  with  good  success. 
But  the  works  are  yet  to  be  written  which  wiU  rout  them  with 
a  "  sore  slaughter,  as  in  the  day  of  Midian."  Even  when  they 
come,  so  slight  is  the  interest  taken  by  the  present  generation  of 
clergy  in  questions  of  this  kind,  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  one 
out  of  twenty  would  take  the  pains  to  read  them  if  they  were 
able.  We  ai'e  copiously  supplied  with  books  on  the  "  evidences 
of  Christianity,"  which  are  not  without  their  value,  but  to  search- 
ing and  scholarly  minds  are  no  better  than  waste  paper,  as  they 
not  only  fail  in  meeting,  but  absolutely  ignore  all  the  real  diffi- 
culties which  oppress  the  thouglitful  when  the  question  is  asked 
whether  our  religion  comes  from  God.  We  would  of  course 
keep  such  discussions  out  of  the  pulpit ;  but  men  "  set  for  the 
defence  of  the  Gospel,"  should  not  imagine  that  everything  can 
15* 


326  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

But  all  this  is  no  argument  against  the  true 
Critical  art,  which  consists  in  a  searching  yet 
sober  examination  of  the  text,  according  to 
fixed  laws,  and  with  sacred  regard  to  the  maxim 
laid  down  by  the  illustrious  Griesbach,  "  Let 
nothing  be  changed  from  conjecture."  The  fear 
of  danger  from  such  studies  is  unworthy  of 
a  Christian  man.  It  implies  a  cowardly  sus- 
picion that  something  is  rotten  at  tlie  founda- 
tion, when  examination  would  prove  the  sound- 
ness of  every  beam — and  that  not  a  stone  of 
the  least  importance  to  the  building  is  displaced. 
Our  religion,  blessed  be  God,  is  not  a  trumped- 
up  fable  !  It  came  to  do  a  great  work  in  the 
world,  and  the  evidence  of  that  wonderful  book 
in  which  it  is  recorded  shall  continue  while 
earth  endures.  What  a  host  of  opjoosition  has 
it  not  already  overcome  ?  Judaism  fell  before 
it  in  forty  years.  In  three  centuries  it  rose  on 
the  ruins  of  Paganism  to  the  empire  of  the 
civilized  world.     It  survived  the  arts  and  oj)- 

be  done  by  preaching.  The  cliurcli  might  possibly  bear  a  thin- 
ning-out of  her  "  Doctors "  without  mortal  damage,  but  she 
needs  all  her  "  docti  " — and  cries  for  more. 


ART   OF   ClilTICISM.  327 

pressions  of  Antichrist.  The  Atheistic  conspir- 
acy which  rose  up  against  it  in  Europe  half  a 
century  since,  it  laughed  to  scorn.  Yearly,  it 
is  extending  its  triumphs  over  new  regions. 
And  after  all,  shall  it  fear  to  have  its  papers 
searched  ?  Shall  it  quail  before  a  score  or  two 
of  men,  who,  whatever  be  their  learning  and 
one-sided  acuteness,  give  slender  proof  of  that 
large  comprehensiveness  of  vision  which  distin- 
guished a  Bacon  and  a  Locke,  with  a  thousand 
others,  who,  after  the  most  brilliant  achieve- 
ments in  science,  were  proud  to  lay  their  honors 
at  its  feet  ? 

Had  our  good  fathers  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury made  these  reflections,  they  would  have 
avoided  a  sad  blunder.  Instead  of  raising  a 
senseless  clamor  against  such  scholars  as  Capel- 
lus,  Wetstein,  Mill,  and  Walton,  who  led  the 
way  in  examining  critically  the  text  of  scrip- 
ture, they  would  have  hailed  their  labors  as 
invaluable  contributions  to  Christianity.  We 
confess  that  we  never  recall  their  history  with- 
out a  feeling  of  shame.     With  talents  and  a 


328  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

force  of  character  that  would  have  raised  them 
to  emmence  in  any  pursuit,  they  chose — instead 
of  roaming  through  the  flowery  fields  of  the 
classics — to  labor  at  the  obscure  task  of  defeca- 
ting the  word  of  Grod  from  its  numerous  blots 
and  excrescences.  They  hid  themselves  in  their 
studies  as  in  prison  cells,  and  delved  for  thirty 
years  among  old  musty,  half-effaced  manuscripts, 
which  could  not  be  decyphered  without  the  aid 
of  microscopes ;  collating  one  with  another, 
comparing  Avord  with  word  and  letter  with  let- 
ter :  occasionally  they  would  devour,  by  way 
of  pastime,  the  folio  of  an  old  Greek  and  Latin 
father:  and  after  more  than  half  a  lifetime  of 
such  drudgery,  they  came  forth  with  the  mo- 
mentous results — to  be  received  with  universal 
execration  !  Instead  of  being  thanked  for  dis- 
covering the  many  faults  of  the  received  text, 
they  were  charged  with  being  themselves  cor- 
rupters of  the  pure  word  of  God.  Even  the 
excellent  John  Owen  entirely  lost  his  temper, 
and  told  them  that  "  they  would  have  acted  a 
wiser  part  if  they  had  buried  their  discoveries 


ART    OF   CRITICISM.  329 

iu  tlie  earth,  and  never  suflerecl  a  various  I'ead- 
ing  to  see  the  light.  What  a  bulk  and  heap,"  he 
exclaims,  "  are  they  swelled  to  !  The  collection 
of  them  makes  up  a  heap  bigger  than  the  Bible, 
and  whither  this  work  may  yet  grow  I  know 
not.  Taking  them  altogether,  I  cannot  but  look 
on  them  as  an  ena-ine  suited  to  the  destruction  of 
the  truth,  and  as  a  fit  weapon,  put  into  the  hands 
of  men  of  atheistical  principles  such  as  this  age 
abounds  in,  to  oppose  the  whole  evidence  of 
truth  revealed  in  the  scriptures.  I  fear  that 
Romanism  or  Atheism  will  be  found  to  lie  at 
the  door!" 

This  a  doleful  paragraph.  It  is  really  sad  to 
think  of  such  a  man  as  Owen — ready  to  give 
up  the  ghost  in  mortal  agony,  because  Brian 
Walton  and  his  associates  are  wearing  out  their 
very  lives  in  the  endeavor  to  provide  him  with 
a  good  New  Testament !  To  think  of  such  a 
gallant  war-horse,  whose  neck  was  clothed  with 
thunder  in  presence  of  an  enemy,  being  thrown 
into  a  perfect  frenzy  of  terror  at  the  sight  of  a 
few  honest  friends  engaged  in  winnowing  his 


330  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

provender !  If  the  principles  of  such  men  had 
been  adopted,  it  is  easy  to  tell  the  consequences. 
There  would  have  been  an  end  to  free  investi- 
gation on  the  most  important  and  fundamental 
points  in  theology.  Mill  and  Walton  would 
have  been  served  with  an  injunction  from  the 
Lord  Chancellor !  Ignorance  would  have  ex- 
cluded forever  enlightened  certainty !  Dr. 
Owen  would  have  burnt  all  the  manuscripts  to 
j)revent  their  blabbing,  and  what  in  this  case 
would  the  evidence  be  worth,  that  the  original 
documents  of  our  faith  had  come  down  unim- 
paired ! 

Happily,  those  who  undertook  the  work  of 
emendation  were  not  men  of  straw.  It  ad- 
vanced bravely,  and  the  result  has  been  a  glo- 
rious accession  to  the  proofs  of  Christianity, 
which  its  warmest  friends  could  scarcely  antici- 
pate. Of  the  mass  of  various  readings  col- 
lected, not  one  hundredth  part  in  the  least 
degree  affects  the  sense.  They  consist  almost 
wholly  of  minute  grammatical  differences,  slight 
transpositions  or  substitutions  of  one  particle 


ART    OF   CRITICISM.  331 

for  another,  so  trifling  that  one  is  apt  to  wonder 
how  they  came  to  be  noticed.  The  question  of 
substantial  incorruptness  is  now  put  to  rest, 
and  will  probably  never  be  revived.  That  Re- 
ligion will  continue  to  receive  benefit  from  criti- 
cal investigations,  we  have  not  a  doubt.  Hu- 
man learning  in  all  its  forms — even  the  most 
unsanctified,  shall  contribute  to  strengthen  the 
foundations  of  our  holy  and  beautiful  temple, 
and  Zion  shall,  according  to  the  promise,  be  en- 
riched with  the  sj3oils  of  her  enemies  ! 

This  is  not  prediction  merely,  for  it  is  already 
true.  The  lover  of  his  Bible,  when  he  sits 
down  to  examine  the  subject,  will  be  surprised 
to  find  how  little  has  been  really  accomplished 
by  the  bold  innovators  of  the  day.  On  the 
contrary,  many  difSculties  have  been  removed, 
and  dark  places  made  plain.  Certainty  has 
been  given  to  what  formerly  was  wished — and 
hoped  rather  than  known,  truth  separated  from 
error,  and  her  friends  enlightened  as  to  the  best 
way  of  defending  her.  Many  of  the  learned 
who  have  distinguished  themselves  by  the  loose- 


332  INTERPRETATION    OF   SCRIPTURE. 

ness  of  their  speculations,  are  beginning  to  see 
that  they  have  gone  too  far,  and  are  retracing 
their  steps.  Some  have  even  made  a  public  re- 
cantation, and  are  vigorous  champions  of  the 
faith  which  once  they  persecuted. 

We  dwell  on  this  subject  at  some  length, 
because  we  fear  that  prejudices  still  linger  among 
us,  which  ought  to  be  corrected.  Our  desire  is, 
to  vindicate  a  most  important  branch  of  theo- 
logical learning  —  and  to  convince  our  young 
friends,  that  if  disposed  to  prosecute  it  in  their 
private  reading,  they  may  do  so  without  serious 
danger.  But  were  the  danger  ever  so  immi- 
nent, still  they  must  prosecute  it.  The  icligious 
teacher  is  not  at  liberty  in  the  mattej-,  more 
than  the  soldier  is  at  liberty  to  decline  fa  Jng 
the  enemy  because  he  may  be  shot !  It  is  a 
proposition  entirely  self-evident,  that  if  Chris- 
tianity  be  defended  from  those  who  are  scatter- 
ing around  fire-brands,  arrows,  and  death,  it 
can  only  be  done  by  a  thorough  investigation 
of  all  those  topics  that  are  employed  against  it. 
Criticism  is  one  of  those  poisons  to  which  there 


ART    OF    CRITICISM,  333 

is  no  other  antidote  but  tlie  poison  itself.  It  is 
like  the  fire  of  Phaeton,  which  Jupiter  could 
only  extinguish  by  the  fire  of  his  thunder. 

"  Ignes  compescuit  ignibus." 

If  a  phalanx  of  erudite  German  neologists 
attack  the  authenticity  of  the  Pentateuch — tell- 
ing us  that  it  was  forged  by  some  obscure  priest 
during  or  after  the  Babylonian  captivity,  that 
the  greater  part  of  Isaiah  was  written  long  after 
his  death,  that  large  portions  of  Matthew,  Luke, 
and  John,  are  interpolations,  that  the  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  must  be  stricken  from  the  Canon, 
and  that  the  Apocalypse  was  written  by  a  half- 
crazed  Gnostic — something  more  must  be  done 
than  groaning,  knitting  the  brows,  or  hurling 
at  them  an  "  exorciso  te  scelestissime."  The 
Christian  minister  must  stand  up  to  them  and 
play  the  man^  not  the  ostrich,  who,  on  the  ap- 
proach of  an  adversary,  shuts  his  eyes  and  runs 
away — screaming  ! 

After  all  that  has  been  said,  truth  and  candor 
require  us  to  make  a  concession.     We  are  far 


334  INTERPRETATION    OF  SCRIPTURE. 

from  asserting  that  tlie  study  of  criticism  will 
make  no  change  in  the  views  of  a  student  nour- 
ished in  the  traditional  belief.  Let  it  be  re- 
membered, that  the  subjects  of  which  it  treats 
have  not  until  lately  received  thorough  examin- 
ation ;  while  our  systems  and  catechisms  were 
framed  long  before.  Now,  it  would  be  passing 
strange,  if  no  new  light  was  reflected  on  them 
by  the  labors  of  so  many  learned  men.  He 
must  calculate,  therefore,  on  being  occasionally 
compelled  to  modify  his  former  opinions.  Per- 
haps he  thinks  at  present  that  every  word  con- 
tained within  the  two  boards  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament that  lies  on  his  table,  is  indited  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  would  look  with  horror  on 
the  man  who  affirms  that  1  John  v.  7,  is  an  in- 
terpolation. His  notions  may  not  always  be  so 
severe.  He  is  sure  that  Paul  wrote  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews.  Perhaps  he  will  discover  that 
though  certainly  written  by  an  apostolical  man, 
yet  a  doubt  concerning  its  Pauline  origin  should 
not  bring  down  the  greater  excommunication- 
He  will  also  find  that  some  l:)Ooks,  2  Peter  and 


ART    OF   CRITICISM.  335 

2d  and  8d  John,  for  instance,  have  not  the  full 
evidence  of  authenticity  possessed  by  the  others, 
and  will  feel  the  propriety  of  deducting  a  little 
from  that  unlimited  confidence  he  would  other- 
wise repose  in  them. 

But  who  will  say  that  he  ought  not  to  change 
his  views  when  they  are  clearly  seen  to  be  prej- 
udices of  education?  The  fear  that  a  modifi- 
cation in  things  small  and  unessential,  may  lead 
to  an  upturning  of  the  whole  system  of  belief, 
is  most  groundless.  The  very  contrary  is  the 
fact;  for  by  separating  truth  from  the  chaff 
which  has  been  mingled  with  it,  he  sees  more 
clearly  its  evidence,  and  can  defend  it  with 
greater  efficiency  and  success.  If  the  writer 
were  permitted  to  give  a  small  leaf  from  the 
book  of  his  own  experience,  he  would  say,  that 
not  a  week  passes  over  his  head  in  which  he 
does  not  find  reason  to  correct  some  partial  or 
erroneous  notion,  that  he  had  received  he  knows 
not  how  — and  without  examination.  But  so 
far  from  unsettling  great  fundamental  principles, 
he  invariably  finds  that  his  conviction  is  strength- 


336  INTERPRETATION    OF    SCRIPTURE. 

ened  by  every  successive  cliange.  The  number 
of  Christian  disciples  is  very  small,  who  would 
not  find  their  advantage,  in  subjecting  their 
religious  opinions  to  the  same  course  of  treat- 
ment whicb  the  great  Lord  of  the  vineyard 
adopts  toward  his  fruit-bearing  branches  :  "  He 
purgeth  them,  that  they  may  bring  forth  more 
fruit." 


THE    END. 


BS465.IVI12  1860 

A  brief  treatise  on  the  canon  and 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00081   9351 


